Prime minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, Germany, on Tuesday. PIBBerlin: India and Germany on Tuesday underlined the potential of open markets and the importance of investment protection for foreign investors for deepening trade ties and attracting investments to the mutual benefit.
Prime minister Narendra Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel underlined their determination to ease bilateral trade and investment during a meeting between them here.
A joint statement issued after their meeting said the two leaders underlined their commitment to India's strategic partnership with the EU and their interest in developing it.
"They reaffirmed their strong commitment to the EU-India Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement and their commitment to bring about a resumption of the negotiations at the earliest possible date. This would, inter alia, allow to establish provisions for the mutual protection of new foreign investments," the statement said.
Recognizing Germany's key competencies in high technology and India's growing needs, they welcomed the efforts of the High Technology Partnership Group (HTPG) to identify specific opportunities for high technology collaboration, including in priority areas of skills development in manufacturing under the 'Make in India' program.
They also agreed to explore possibilities of cooperation in the field of industry 4.0 particularly between the Industry platforms on both sides, and they welcomed efforts to deepen relations between the Indian and German space agencies.
Both the leaders also welcomed the full implementation of the Fast Track System for German companies, as agreed during the last consultations, in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
The Fast Track System has been enabling both sides to identify and solve problems faced by German Companies and investors in their operations in India. Apart from this, the Fast Track System also serves as a platform for discussing general suggestions from the point of view of German companies and Investors with regard to ease of doing business in India.
The two sides agreed that India's railway modernization and expansion plans offer ample opportunities for the German rail industry. They appreciated the significant progress made on strengthening the cooperation in rail sector especially the initiatives in the area of railway safety.
They encouraged their respective business enterprises to enter arrangements for co-development and co-production of commercial aviation and defense equipment in India, including transfer of know-how and technologies.
Sizable part of reforms completed: Modi
Modi said India has already completed a "sizable" part of reforms and the historic Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime will be rolled out from July.
Addressing the Indo-German Business Summit along with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Modi said Germany is among India's most important partners both bilaterally and in the global context.
"There is tremendous potential in India-Germany economic collaboration. Our economic partnership is still below its full potential," said the prime minister.
This is Modi's second bilateral visit to Germany since 2015.
"When I spoke in April 2015, our process of reforms had just started. Now, I can safely say that we have completed a sizable part of it," he said.
Modi said India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy the last three years with GDP growth rate of over 7 and is a "bright spot" in the global economy.
Terming GST the "most historic reform" in India, Modi said it will be implemented from "next month" in an apparent reference to the scheduled date of July 1.
India, which has been liberalizing its foreign direct investment policy, received a total of $43.5 billion worth of FDI in fiscal ending March 2017.
In the recent past, India has implemented about 700 reforms, including in the IPR regime and on ease-of-doing business front.
