Embassy of India

Berlin

28^th June 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Positive Dialogue takes India Germany Economic Relations Forward

1.      Encouraged by the buoyant sentiment created in the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and the German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel, the Indo-German economic community took their vision forward through the Indo-German Business Dialogue. 

2.     Indo-German Business Dialogue is a high-level economic platform organised by the Indian Embassy in Berlin in partnership with Member of the German Parliament Mr. Mark Hauptmann and supported by partners including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation (KAS), the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) and the Bertelsmann Foundation. The event was held to encourage and facilitate new partnerships between the Indian and German industries and foster and exchange ideas. The 2^nd edition of the Indo-German Business Dialogue was attended by Members of the Indian and German Parliament, and by over 250 representatives of the German industry, Chambers of Commerce, academia, think tanks and policy makers. 

3.     Addressing the participants, Ambassador of India to Germany Smt Mukta Dutta Tomar expressed the importance of common shared values between the countries which makes them natural partners especially in the economic front. She called on German businesses to increase their engagement with India. She said that India is a bright spot for foreign businesses and added that the Embassy was helping German businesses through the Make in India Mittelstand programme. 

4.    Mr. Mark Hauptmann, Member of the German Parliament and co-organiser of Indo-German Business Dialogue emphasised the synergies for furthering business cooperation between the two countries that were set in motion by the recent visit of the Prime Minister of India to Germany in May this year as well as through the networking opportunities offered through the Indo-German Business Dialogue.

5.    Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Rabea Brauer, Team Leader Asia & Pacific, Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) spoke about the role played by the Foundation during the last five decades in intensifying Indo-German relations. India and Germany are working closely in several strategic areas more than ever before and are jointly developing new technologies. There is a lot of potential to bring Make in India and Made in Germany closer together, she said.

6.   Mr. Abhishek Singh, Member of Parliament of India also took part in the Business Dialogue, and emphasised the role played by Germany as one of India’s most important partners both bilaterally and in the global context for India. He underlined that India’s flagship programmes such as Make in India Initiative, 100 Smart Cities Programme, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India), Digital India and Skill India Programme which offer significant opportunities for collaboration with Germany and its companies.  He said that he would like to further strengthen the Indo-German cooperation in areas such as manufacturing, setting up of smart cities, modernisation of railway networks and stations, generation of renewable energy, skill development, cleaning of rivers, education etc.  This is the best time ever to be in India & it is even better to Make in India.

7.     Addressing the participants, Mr. Volker Kauder, Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag said that India as a country with huge potential is increasingly seen as a strong strategic partner by Germany both economically and politically. Germany would support in securing a fair and balanced India EU FTA deal which is in the interest of both countries. Germany with its strong competence in manufacturing and technology can contribute strongly to develop India’s infrastructure as well as in other sectors such as skill development, which are all areas of mutual benefit. India can offer its expertise to Germany in areas such as IT, software and digitalisation.  He added that Germany is keenly interested to intensify its strategic cooperation with India in these areas.

8.     An expert level panel discussion on “Industry 4.0 in India – Chances for Germany” highlighted areas of mutual synergies that could be found between India and Germany. Participants in the expert panel discussion included Mr. Mohan Reddy, Founder & Managing Director, Cyrient, Mr. Clas Neumann, Senior Vice President,SAP, Mr. Manu Saale, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes Benz Research & Development India and Mr. Mukul Dhyani, Country Head, Wipro in Germany & Switzerland.

9.     Many Indian automotive industries and the larger manufacturing industry in India foresee tremendous opportunity to adopt smart manufacturing solutions and provide such solutions to manufacturing companies. Germany's engineering competencies and India's strengths in information technology create significant synergies for collaboration in innovation. Germany and India have agreed to explore new collaboration under the ‘Digital India’ initiative.

10.   The panellists discussed on the concept of industry 4.0, the factors crucial for it, the benefits of advanced manufacturing, the industrial best practices and the way forward . They also discussed the role of Indian IT industry in improving efficiency of German manufacturing companies, on how industry 4.0 is affecting German industry and on how advanced technologies can be adopted across sectors in India.

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