Mr. Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, stressed that DIPP was working to improve the business environment in India which would help Isreali companies set up in this country. The Secretary was speaking at the India-Israel Business Innovation Forum organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in cooperation with the Foreign Trade Administration of Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Israel, The Embassy of Israel in India and Invest India in New Delhi today in conjunction with the visit of HE Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, to India.
The Secretary stated that many fundamental reforms had been undertaken over the past 4 years including the implementation of the GST. As a result, India’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business indicators of the World Bank has improved by 30 places. He stated that this process would continue so that we can attract investment from Israel as well as other countries in the world. He stated that as a part of this process, many research parks and incubators were being set up and invited Israeli companies to take advantage of these facilities.
Mr Ohad Cohen, Trade Commissioner & Director of Foreign Trade Administration, Ministry of Economy, Israel stated that during this visit, the focus of his Government would be on exploring the possibility of re-starting negotiations on the India – Israel FTA, signing of an Agreement between Invest India and the Foreign Investments and Invest in Israel, and the operationalizing of the Joint R&D Fund that was created last year among others.
Mr. Shraga Brosh, President, Manufacturer’s Association of Israel, stated that Israel was looking to expand its markets beyond Europe and the West. The focus was now on Asia and Africa as the new growth centers. Within that, he stated, India has a major role to play. Some of the sectors that they were looking at to expand cooperation was in agriculture, smart cities, clean energy, water management among others, he added.
Mr. Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO, Invest India, stated that over the last six months, there had been a 16-fold increase in the enquiries received from Israeli companies wishing to invest in India. These were in diverse sectors such as agriculture, cyber-security, water, healthcare, aviation, tourism, defence, and mobility as well as innovation and start-ups.
Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, stated that CII will take sectoral delegations to Israel shortly to facilitate forging partnership between Indian and Israeli industry so that they can jointly apply for funds under the India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) which was announced by both Indian & Israeli Prime Ministers during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel last year.
7 MoUs were signed on this occasion:
Israel India
Foreign Investments and Industrial Cooperation Invest India
The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute Confederation of Indian Industry
Manufacturer’s Association of Israel Confederation of Indian Industry
Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce Confederation of Indian Industry
ContextSpace Solutions Ltd. Tech Mahindra
Water-Gen Tata Projects Limited
Cortica Ltd. Best Ltd.
In addition, MassChallenge Israel jointly with Deshpande Foundation and NASSCOM India announced a Start-Up challenge for Indian Start-Ups.
Tech Mahindra with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority announced a strategic programme focused on bringing startups in direct contact with clients to solve business problems.
New Delhi
January 15, 2018