Meeting with the Indian Business Community at the Embassy of India

A meeting of members of the Indian Business Community was organized at the Indian Embassy on October 16, 2014. H E Mr P S Raghavan, Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation and H.E. Mr Sergey Cheremin, Minister and Head of the Department of External Relations and International Cooperation of the Moscow Government addressed the meeting.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Raghavan provided a brief overview of efforts being made by the Governments of India and Russia to intensify bilateral economic cooperation and of the activities of the Embassy of India to promote this objective, including through regular interactions with the various regions of the Russian Federation. He drew attention to the forthcoming high-level bilateral events, including the Inter-governmental Commission and the Summit towards the end of the year. He invited the Indian business community to provide inputs and suggestions on issues of interest, which need to be taken up at high-level inter-governmental meetings. He also urged enthusiastic Indian corporate participation at the India –Russia Forum for Trade & Investment in New Delhi on November 5, 2014 [CII is coordinating the Indian participation in the event].

H.E. Mr Sergey Cheremin outlined the efforts made by the Moscow Government for developing Moscow region as an attractive investment destination. Emphasizing the size of Moscow’s market, he identified areas such as IT, Infrastructure, healthcare and engineering as potential areas of interest to Indian companies both for trade and for investment in Moscow. He invited the Indian business community to more actively participate in tenders for upcoming projects in these areas.

At the interactive session, members of the Indian Business Community shared their experiences of doing business in Russia and commented on issues of labour law, workers’ quotas and immigration visas. Mr Cheremin responded to the queries raised by the members of the Indian business community and invited them to take up the issues with the concerned department of the Moscow government, in which his department would help.
There was a discussion on bilateral initiatives for promotion of bilateral trade in national currencies, the International North-South Transport Corridor and on immigration & customs issues.

It was agreed that there should be a regular exchange of information between the Embassy and the Indian business community on these subjects.