Russia expecting increase in deliveries of components and equipment from India for highway construction, chemical and pharma industries
NEW DELHI. April 17 (Interfax) - Russia is expecting an increase in shipments of components and equipment for a number of sectors from India, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said during a meeting with business communities from Russia and India.
"We are not going to close ourselves off from the outside world. To replace everything, in all industries is essentially unrealistic and economically unprofitable. We don't have a goal of achieving absolute autonomy - this is a dead end, leading ultimately to the loss of competitiveness," Manturov said.
"We will certainly rely on reliable foreign partners in terms of certain competencies and technologies. We have been working with our friends from India for decades in this area. We will make every effort to expand our cooperative ties. We will exchange competencies and experience in the most promising technological areas," he said.
"Among the goods most in demand under this program are components and equipment for road construction, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. I am sure this will provide excellent opportunities for Indian companies to increase supplies to Russia in this and other lines of goods," Manturov said.
According to him, Indian partners keen in implementing joint projects may be interested in the mechanism of the cluster platform, which provides preferential loans for the development and production of priority products, subsidies for the implementation of pilot batches, insurance premium and income tax preferences.
"We attach special importance to issues of mutual access of products to the markets of our countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we expect to intensify negotiations with India on a free trade agreement. In addition, we are working on the issue of signing a Russian-Indian agreement on encouragement and mutual protection of capital investments," the minister said.
Another incentive for the qualitative improvement of trade and industrial cooperation could be a prompt solution to the issue of uninterrupted mutual settlements, he continued. "In the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue we proposed considering the wide use of national currencies and currencies of friendly countries. This is relevant in the current environment, and allows for minimizing costs and currency risks," Manturov said.
"India could become one of the key partners in the development of the North-South international transport corridor. We also consider it important to expand direct air communication - it is a necessary condition for regular and unhindered exchange of business delegations and expansion of mutual tourist flow," he said.
A plenary session of the Russia-India intergovernmental commission is scheduled for April 18, the press service for the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade said earlier. "The parties plan to discuss a wide range of issues of bilateral trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation. In addition, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov will hold a number of bilateral talks during the working visit," the ministry said.