India can cooperate with Myanmar in Organic & Sustainable Agri & Pharma

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Nirmala-Sitharaman-indianbureaucracy
Nirmala-Sitharaman-indianbureaucracy

An India Myanmar Business Conclave was hosted by India at Yangon as part of its Act East policy. A 25 member business delegation from India attended the Conclave led by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce &Industry (CIM). The delegation was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and had included amongst others, Dr Naushad Forbes President CII ; Ms Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals and President Designate, CII;  Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises and Vice President, CII ; Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson, State Bank of India ; Mr T V Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel ; Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.  More than 40 top CEOs from Myanmar also attended the Conclave. This is the first visit of any Minister from India after the new government in Myanmar.

CIM congratulated Myanmar for landslide victory by the National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the elections held in November 2015. She acknowledged the calibrated and pragmatic stand of the Government towards a peaceful and orderly assumption of power.

Highlight of the event was a Government-Business Round table on the theme: ‘Forging Partnerships’. India conveyed their eagerness to engage intensively with the new Government and avail the opportunities emerging in Myanmar. Both sides identified the central themes of the economic engagement being sectors which are labour and employment intensive; technologies which can help Myanmar leap forward on the development front and capacity building- skilling, enterpreneurship. Connectivity- by land, sea and civil aviation; financial connectivity and people to people contact were considered to be key enablers for movement of goods, services, investment and people.

Speaking in the Roundtable, CIM conveyed that India had opened 96.4% of tariff lines at zero duty for Myanmar under its Duty Free Tariff Preference scheme besides ASEAN India FTA. The transition from barter trade to normal trade wef 1 Dec 2015 was a step forward to boost trade. Similarly a liberal access was available for Services including a visa fee waiver for Myanmar applicants applying for Indian Business and Employment visas.

 At the inauguration Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman acknowledged Myanmar’s achievement in organic and sustainable agriculture. She offered that India can cooperate in boosting productivity by providing technology and agri equipment. CIM conveyed that Pharmaceutical sector is an area where India can engage actively. Many countries from CIS and Latin America have invited India to setup base there and collaborate as India is a world leader in pharmaceutical production especially cost effective medicines for public health systems. She encouraged Myanmar to avail of Indian expertise. She also identified Textiles, IT, Automobile industry wherein India can engage for mutual benefit. CIM conveyed India’s commitment to contribute to Myanmar’s development including road and connectivity projects, border projects such as border haats and ICPs. CIM invited Myanmar to hold road shows in key cities of India exhibiting the opportunities available in Myanmar to connect to larger numbers of Indian businesses. She also thanked Myanmar for granting licence to State Bank of India.

The two days witnesses intensive deliberations and B2B interactions in the sectors such as Agriculture, Manufacturing and Employment, IT, Health, Education, Skill Development, Power & Renewable energy, Connectivity (Air, Sea, Land), Tourism and Hospitality, SEZs, Industrial Zones and Finance.

India conveyed its interest to invest in Myanmar. It also invited Myanmar businesses to seek opportunities in India through its flagship programme MAKE IN INDIA in continuation of Regional Value Chains across borders.

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