Sharma calls for big push to trade with Russia

In a bid to tap a potentially huge market and restructure the Indo-Russian bilateral economic relationship,commerce minister Anand Sharma today said the economic engagement with Russia....

In a bid to tap a potentially huge market and restructure the Indo-Russian bilateral economic relationship,commerce minister Anand Sharma today said the economic engagement with Russia should be given the same priority and strategic importance as is given to countries like the US,given the relationship the two countrie have shared in the past. He emphasised the need to diversify and expand in various other sectors such as pharma,automobiles and chemicals,apart from energy and defence,as there is huge potential there.

The minister,who is here to inaugurate the 3rd India-Russia Forum on Trade and Investment tomorrow,said that Russia,given its landmass,natural resources and location,is an important strategic partner of India,has been and will always be. Also,with the fact that BRIC nations are set to play a defining role in global developments,it is important that the chambers of commerce and industry work in the direction of engaging the two countries for economic cooperation,Sharma said.

The forum,which is being jointly organised by the ministry of commerce and industry chambers CII and Ficci,will discuss various challenges that the Russian market presents and the ways to tackle them.

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Ficci president Harsh Pati Singhania said that while the country needs to diversify the trade basket in Russia,which at present mainly consists of tea,ready-made garments,coffee,tobacco,rice,etc,it also needs to look at new sectors like IT,engineering,pharma and investment. Currently,he said,the trade between the two countries is hardly 5 billion dollars and needs to be expanded.

Present on the occasion,Russian ambassador PP Shukla said he is in dialogue with the Russian authorities to tackle various practical problems like regulatory approval and common perceptions about the Indian corporates. However,the corporates need to show more interest about investing in Russia while India works on becoming an attractive destination for the Russian companies,he said.

Business houses like Lupin,Appollo tyres,Sun Group,Ranbaxy Laboratories,Modi group,among various others,voiced their apprehensions and problems being faced and asked for more government support.