Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal underlined the need of bilateral investment treaties and payment security mechanism for power purchase agreements (PPAs) while addressing the business delegation from India on strengthening business ties with Russia's Far East Region in Vladivostok, Russia. Piyush Goyal highlighted that the land and labour are cheap and local pool of Hindi or English interpreters are easily available too. He added that the Indian government is corruption-free and these all together make India an investment destination with a lot of competitive advantages. The Commerce Minister is accompanied by the Chief Ministers of Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh and an official from the State of Assam.
Addressing a separate sectoral session, UP CM Yogi Adityanath pointed out the scope of agriculture, food processing and renewable energy with the business representatives of India and Russia. Also, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar addressed a session on oil and gas. Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat addressed a sectoral session highlighting the scope of the diamond trade and Pramod Sawant, CM of Goa, talked about minerals, metals, rare-earths, and fisheries with the representatives of both countries.
To bring foreign investments in India has been at the top of the priority list of the BJP-led government. In a separate event, PM Modi said in an interview that the government is not looking at the exports by incentives only but it also wants the improvement in the competitiveness of the Indian exporters. He added that the government wants the investors to invest more, earn more and to create more jobs in the country. The government, wants entrepreneurs to generate better productivity and profits, want the industries to grow fast and in a larger scale and want the businesses to get easier access to bigger markets at home and abroad, he further added.
Commerce Minister's visit to Russia is a precursor to the upcoming visit of PM Narendra Modi in early September for the 5th edition of the Eastern Economic Forum. It is an international forum held every year in Vladivostok, Russia, to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East region and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Indian entities are already engaged in key sectors like power, coal, oil, and gas, and this visit by India's Commerce and Industry Minister, along with the delegation, will increase India's footprint in the region further," said a statement by the Government of India.
