Czechinvest managing director Alexandra Rudysarova on Friday invited Indian companies to invest in its potential sectors to further strengthen the mutual trade that has grown by 42% in the first half of 2008.
?There are huge investment opportunities in Czech Republic manufacturing sector. Besides this, sectors like IT, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and hi-tech engineering have also started attracting investments. Many a Indian companies are also coming forward to take over Czech companies to get access to the European markets,? said Rudysarova
The bilateral trade between India and Czech Republic has increased over the years, especially in the last decade. Bilateral trade stood at $659 million in 2008 till June, with a registered growth of 42% over the corresponding time period in 2007, which was around $ 464 million, said Rudysarova, sharing more about the mutual trade
Further with the diversification of trade from traditional commodity items to engineering goods and value added items, bilateral trade could touch $ 1 billion in the coming few years. ?The two countries could profit immensely by diversifying the trade basket to include niche products. Sectors such as engineering, IT, packaging, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, food processing industries, biotechnology, science & technology offer opportunities for two-way flow of trade and investment. The two countries however need to give greater attention to the visa regimes so that they do not inhibit genuine business and tourist traffic,? Alexandra added.
Various sectors of cooperation between India & Czech are Tourism, Pharmaceutical especially generics and clinical research, healthcare, gas based power plants, Automotive components. Major Indian exports to Czech Republic include cotton yarn; textiles, garments, linen etc; leather, footwear and other leather items; tea, coffee, rice, spices, groundnuts etc; pharmaceuticals; engineering items.
Major Indian imports from Czech Republic include turbines for power generation; motor vehicles accessories; machinery, machine tools and transport equipment; chemicals and plastic material; seamless steel tubes; crystal, glassware and beads.
Alexandra further added, ?The new entrants can avail of subsidies and cash grants from the government as well as EU support through operational training programs. Investors in manufacturing can avail of tax incentives, job creation grants and discounted prices of land. The tax vacation is valid for 5 years.?