A meeting of the Business Council for Cooperation with India (BCCI) was held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI RF) on April 12. </Mr. Sergey Cheremin, Chairman of the Board of the BCCI, Minister of the Moscow City Government and the Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow (DEEIR), Mr. Vladimir Padalko, Vice-President of the RF CCI, Mr. Suren Vardanyan, Vice-President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Sammy Kotwani, President of the Indian Business Alliance, Mr. Vikram Singh Punia, President of JSC “Farmasintez”, representatives of the Indian Embassy, and businessmen from Moscow and India participated in the event.
In his speech Sergei Cheremin told about the results of the PRSP activities in 2016, in particular, he emphasized that three profile committees were formed within the Council due to the regular profile inquiries: a committee on pharmaceuticals, a committee on energy and a committee on electronic commerce. The Minister also advocated further development of inter-regional relations and expressed hope that in 2017 an Agreement on Cooperation for 2018-2020 will be signed between Moscow and Delhi.
It was noted that in the current year the Council will continue to develop activities in the following areas: participation in major international events and the organization of business missions, expanding the circle of Indian partners and strengthening the specialized work within the committees of the Council.
During the meeting the project of launching the first thematic channel and website “Great Asia” was presented which will be launched in June this year and will cover, including the events in India that will help to develop relations between the countries.
Vikram Singh Punia, president of Pharmasintez JSC, said relations between Russia and India are similar to those between two classmates who went to different countries after school and now have their own priorities. “Our countries first of all need to maintain and actively develop business relations. In the development of pharmaceuticals, Indian companies have gone far ahead, so they could share their experience with Russia. For example, for the first time in 40 years, India has developed the world’s only anti-tuberculosis drug. At the same time, new Russian medical developments could be implemented in Indian companies,” Putia said. He also stressed that the Business Council is an excellent platform to develop relations between Russia and India, where representatives of business communities from both countries can meet to discuss new joint ideas and current issues of business development in Russia and India.
The meeting participants also discussed issues related to the celebration of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and India.
