Amsterdam, 20 november 2008 – De Indiase Minister van Financiën P. Chidambaram ziet de economische groei van zijn land niet onder de 7% komen. Dit verklaarde hij vandaag tijdens de Netherlands India Business Meet in Amsterdam. Chidambaram verwacht dat het handelsvolume tussen Nederland en India binnen twee jaar zal groeien naar 10 miljard Euro. Op dit moment staat de teller op 3 miljard Euro.

India heeft de afgelopen vier jaar 9% economische groei gerealiseerd. De IMF geeft voor dit jaar een prognose af van 7,8% groei. In een terugblik op de handelscijfers tussen Nederland en India Chidambaram gaf aan dat het handelvolume in 1997 ongeveer 1 miljard Euro bedroeg en dat het acht jaar heeft geduurd voordat er een groei was bereikt van 2 miljard Euro. “Maar nu is er binnen twee jaar een handelsvolume bereikt van 3 miljard Euro en ik hoop dat er in 2011 de 10 miljard Euro is bereikt.”

Staatssecretaris Frank Heemskerk liet weten dat Nederland India vooral kan helpen op het gebied van rivier- en havenmanagement. Vice versa toonde Heemskerk zijn interesse in Nederlandse investeringen in de Indiase agri-culture sector. Nederland bedrijven ontwikkelden inmiddels een duizend hectare groot food park in Hyderabad en er zitten zes van dit soort projecten in de pijpleiding.

De organisatie van de Netherlands India Business Meet kijkt met plezier terug op de eerste grote match making bijeenkomst tussen ondernemers uit Nederland en India. Niet eerder kwamen zoveel Indiase bedrijven in één handelsdelegatie naar Nederland. In totaal bezochten meer dan 300 ondernemers de bijeenkomst in de Beurs van Berlage.

Largest business delegation from India ever in the Netherlands
Finance Minister Chidambaram participates in Netherlands India Business Meet

Amsterdam, 20 November 2008 – Expressing confidence that Indo-Netherlands trade cooperation would reach a high of 10 billion EURO in a shorter span of two years, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday announced that Indian economic growth rate would not be less than 7% despite the global meltdown. Chidambaram addressed the Netherlands India Business Meet 2008 in Amsterdam today with a large SME business delegation from India mobilised by FICCI.

Assuring on Indian economic fundamentals Chidambaram said the services sector has also remained insulated form the world economy crisis. Explaining as why unlike the USA and Europe the Indian financial sector was stable he commended that “the 75% of Indian banking space is occupied by public sector undertaking and is well capitalized and regulated on and off shore”. The minister told the Netherlands business delegates that Indian capital market was best regulated in the world.

Chidambaram said India had witnessed an unprecedented 9 per cent economic growth rate for four years and pointed out in the current phase the IMF estimate of Indian rate of growth was 7.8 per cent.
Recounting the Netherlands-India trade figures, he said 1997 it was one billion eu and it took eight years to it to grow 2 billion eu. “But now within two years it has touched 3 billion eu and at this rate it could grow to a high of 10 billion eu by 2011”, he hoped.

Netherlands foreign trade minister F. Heemskerk said Netherlands could increasingly help India in its river water and port management. Netherlands has the second largest port in the world at Rotterdam. With larger part of the Netherlands being under sea level, the country has over the years developed world class water management technology. Heemskerk also evinced interest in investment in the Indian agriculture sector. Netherlands companies have already developed 1000 acres food park at Hyderabad with six more of such parks were in the pipeline.

Important IT companies like TCS, INFOSYS, WIPRO, SATYAM AND NIIT have made Amsterdam as their European head offices with several other companies SUZLON, ONGC VIDESH, IBILT and MOSER moving to Netherland with diversified projects. IT Company SATYAM is listed with the Amsterdam stock exchange.

Netherlands companies like PHILIPS, SHELL, HEINEKEN and UNILIVER are familiar names in India and several more are moving in the field of R & D, Bio-technology, food parks, port, hotel and civil aviation sector. “In the banking sector ING VYSYA BANK reflects a unique partnership between Dutch and Indian companies”, Karthik Balachandran who is with ING´S European desk. ING started its operation in India in 1992 and in 2002 it became the single largest shareholder of Vysya Bank – one of India´s oldest banks-by increasing its steak to 44 per cent.

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