WTC Mumbai aims to boost India-Russia trade
WTC Mumbai organised an interactive meeting with a High Level business delegation led by H.E. Sergey Katyrin, President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of the Russian Federation.
H.E. Katyrin highlighted Russia's strong ties with India and the inauguration of CCI's second office in Mumbai. CCI represents over 53,000 business organizations and has signed numerous bilateral agreements worldwide. Despite regulations limiting offices to one per country, the growing India-Russia business relationship warranted the opening of a second office in Mumbai. Both offices aim to boost bilateral trade, investment, and technology collaboration, addressing India's trade deficit with Russia by facilitating Indian exports.
In his remarks, Mr. Aleksei Surovtsev, Consul General, Consulate General of the Russian Federation informed, “Russia has become the 4th largest trade partner of India from 20th largest partner two years ago. Today, goods and services trade has crossed USD 55 billion mark and this is the most opportune time to strengthen this partnership further.”
Mr. Alexander Rybas, Trade Commissioner, Embassy of the Russian Federation in India informed, “India is a strategic business partner of Russia and both the countries are working on multiple fora such as BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Our trade mission aims to diversify our business relationship in areas such as railways, infrastructure, heavy machineries, timber, chemicals and so on.”
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai mentioned, “Bilateral goods trade has crossed the USD 50 billion mark this year and I am confident that in the next three years, we can surpass USD 100 billion trade. WTC Mumbai assures all support to Russian companies to facilitate their trade and investment in India. We have been promoting bilateral trade and investment through the India-Russia Trade House, which was established in Mumbai more than seven years ago.”
During the event, Saint Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed an MoU with WTC Mumbai to promote bilateral trade and investment. Lipetsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry also signed similar MoU with WTC Mumbai.
The event was also addressed by Mr. Vladimir Katenev, President, Saint Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Mr. Anatoly Goltsov, Chairman, Lipetsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai proposed vote of thanks for the session. He suggested Russian companies to invest in India and explore imports from India to balance bilateral trade.
The event was followed by B2B meetings between Russian delegation and Indian business delegates in sectors such as water heating equipments, edible oil, hydropower, transport, logistics, construction, fresh fruits, fabrics, threads, polymer and gemstones.
In Photo: Mr. Anatoly Goltsov, Chairman, Lipetsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry (left) exchanging MoU with Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai (middle). Also seen in the photograph is Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai.