Building a New Paradigm for EU-India Relations through Enhancing Trade and Investment

On the eve of 11th annual EU-India Business Summit, a high level Conference on “Building a New Paradigm for EU- India Relations through Enhancing Trade and Investment” is being organized by the Europe India Chamber of Commerce[EICC] in partnership with EUROCHAMBRES. The Conference will be held on 9 December 2010, in the European Parliament in Brussels. The Conference takes place during the Belgian Presidency of the European Union and being organized to add to the importance to the Business Summit.

The annual European Union-India summit will be held in Brussels on 10th December 2010 under the Belgian Presidency of the European Union. The one-day summit will be accompanied by an annual India-EU business Forum which will witness interaction between top business leaders, including CEOs of various companies from the two sides to discuss emerging issues and ways to scale up two-way trade and business cooperation. The EICC will join the Federation of Belgian Enterprise (FEB/VBO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to organize the Summit.

A trade and business delegation from Gujarat will visit Europe in the month of September to promote Global Investor Summit to be held in Ahmedabad in January 2011. The EICC has teamed up with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to organize business meetings for the delegation which will visit UK, Netherlands, Spain and Germany. PwC is knowledge partner to the Government of Gujarat and is assisting them in the preparation of the investor summit called Vibrant Gujarat, planned for 12-13 January 2011 in Ahmedabad. The PwC is also helping the government to organize various government delegations to different countries in order to promote investments into Gujarat and invite companies, associations, chambers of commerce to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat. Vibrant Gujarat is a biennial Global Investors' Summit held by the Government of Gujarat. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, policy and opinion makers in one platform to explore business opportunities in Gujarat. The 4th Global Investors' Summit held on 12–13 January 2009 saw MOUs to the value of $241 billion signed. The EICC has arranged meetings with companies, associations, educational institutions and government bodies in Europe for the delegation. The delegation comprising of business leaders and management experts from industrial sectors such as Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure & Logistics, Food and Agro, Auto & Engineering, Financial Services, Waste management and Life sciences will explore business collaboration for long term partnership and invite entrepreneurs and business leaders to invest in Gujarat. EICC Board Member Mr. Sushil Handa will join the delegation. Other members of the delegation include Mr. J.R.Vyas (Dishman – Pharma and Chemicals), Mr. Suresh Patel (GIHED – housing), Ms. Shaleen Sharma (Gujarat Gas), Mr. Harish Mehta (Suzlon – Renewable Energy), Mr. Dilip Jiwarajka (Alok Industries - Textile). The delegation will be led by Mr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, IAS, Sales Tax Commissioner of Gujarat with additional charge of Managing Director of Gujarat Alkalis and Chemicals Ltd. The EICC looks forward to helping the delegation to meet their mission objectives and also establishing business collaboration with the participating companies, and developing partnership with the government of Gujarat. It is learnt that Gujarat government has planned to send similar business delegations to France, Italy, Brazil, USA, Canada, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, in the countries of Africa, Middle East and Gulf. The delegation consisting Gujarat based wellknown industrial leaders will visit these countries to invite business community to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit

Dr. J. Bhagwati, Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU delivered a talk on “Global financial crisis and the resilience of the Indian economy” on Wednesday 30th June 2010, at Hotel Renaissance, Rue du Parnasse 19, 1050 Brussels. British Chamber of Commerce organized this business lunch, with Ambassador Dr J. Bhagwati, in conjunction with EICC with the sponsorship from Interel.

India's multi-faceted ties with the Kingdom of Belgium, home to over 14,000-strong Indian Diaspora, got a stimulus with the visit by the Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium in March. The focus of the visit was predominantly economic, with Belgium increasingly looking at India as potential investment destination and also to develop broader economic relations. Crown Prince Philippe’s visit to India from 20-27 March as the head of a big 240-member delegation is seen as very positive development in bilateral relations between Belgium and India. A large number of officials from various administration and agencies including Flanders Investment and Trade which accompanied Prince Philippe’s mission show the Belgian government’s keen interest in boosting trade and economic ties with India. The mission visited Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and New Delhi. The vast market available in India has prompted the Belgian industrialists to venture new investment opportunities.
Mr. Laurens Naraina, Senior Partner of the global audit firm PwC and Member of the Board of the EICC was also a member of the Mission. EICC Board Member Mr. Sushil Handa represented Abellon on the occasion of signing a MoU with Port of Ghent on the 25 March in Mumbai during the Belgian Princely Mission to India. Abellon CleanEnergy, is a sustainable energy solutions company which is part of a global conglomerate based out of India, The MoU has been signed for JV investments in Energy & Infrastructure in Europe and in India. During the India Calling 2009 in Brussels, Mr. Handa had an opportunity to meet with the Crown Prince and discuss with him Abellon CleanEnergy’s strategic investment plan in Belgium. The signing of the MoU was a first step towards cementing this trade and investment relationship between Abellon CleanEnergy and Europe