The Business Council for Cooperation with India and the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow, in partnership with the Roscongress Foundation, organized events on the sidelines of Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2023.
SPIEF hosted The Russian-Indian Business Forum “The Potential for Trade, Economic and Investment Cooperation between Russia and India: Development Scenarios”. Current trends in the development of the global economic system and new geopolitical challenges that occurred due to changes in priorities in foreign economic activity were discussed. Trends in the development of cross-border business and the investment climate were also noted.
The participants repeatedly emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between the business communities of the two countries, noting the investment interest of Indian entrepreneurs, especially in the field of pharmaceuticals. In addition, speakers paid special attention to mutual settlements using the ruble-rupee mechanism. The problem of lack of information for entrepreneurs about customs regulation measures, business transactions was also brought up.
The business forum was inaugurated by Mr. Ved Prakash Singh, First Secretary, Head of the Economic and Commercial Wing of the Embassy of the Republic of India in the Russian Federation.
Representatives of Russian and Indian business circles, representatives of investment agencies and chambers of commerce and industry, such as MSME Development Forum, Invest India, Desai & Diwanji, Norilsk Nickel, Sberbank attended the event.
As part of SPIEF 2023, the Business Council for Cooperation with India organized two signings of memorandums of understanding with the Roscongress Foundation and Verkko Management Consultant Pvt Ltd.
The Business Council for Cooperation with India and the Department for External Economic and International Relations of Moscow also organized the Business Dialogue “RUSSIA – INDIA”.
During the event, a wide range of topics of bilateral cooperation was discussed, such as new promising trade positions, areas of interaction and current trends in the economy. Against the backdrop of rapidly increasing exports from Russia to India, special attention was paid to stabilizing the trade balance which would be in the interests of the two countries. The forum has become a platform for discussing the availability of logistics routes, measures to support entrepreneurship, business innovation, digitalization and integration for the development of cooperation between the two countries.
The speakers of the event were representatives of the politics and business of Russia and India, such as the Union Minister of State for Steel of the Republic of India Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, the Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Mr. Alexei Chekunkov, the Governor of the Kamchatka Territory Mr. Vladimir Solodov and others.
The session was moderated by Mr. Sergey Cheremin, Minister of the Government of Moscow, Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations of the City of Moscow, Chairman of the Business Council for Cooperation with India.
Rapid growth in trade between Russia and India, as well as cooperation between the two countries in such areas as diamond processing, education, cinema, logistics, promotion of the investment climate and others were discussed.