'India, Russia bilateral trade can grow further'
NEW DELHI: Bilateral trade and investments between India and Russia could get a boost if the governments play a more pro-active role in spreading awareness about the opportunities by passing on relevant information to the business community, Vadim Khromov, Deputy Governor of Moscow region, said. Khromov, who is visiting India with a business delegation to attract investments into the Moscow Region in various manufacturing sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, automotive components and aviation, said he would take up the matter of proper dissemination of information in his meeting with government officials in India.
"Often business people work on very tight schedules and have no time to gather new information by reading news or through other channels. Since governments have a close relationship with the business community, it could directly spread information on the possibilities and opportunities in different parts of the world," Khromov said in an interview with BusinessLine. On the opportunities in the Moscow region, Khromov said if the Indian government helped pass on the information that he and his team had prepared for the Indian businesses, it would be very helpful. He said the Russian government should do the same.
On the proposed free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union which includes Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Khromov said while a free trade pact was generally beneficial, there were other instruments too that work. "We do not want to wait for the free trade agreement to happen. We want to go forward now. Sometimes business is very successful, if the time and place is right. The relation between the Russian Federation and India is now at such a point and we should not wait to widen our cooperation," he said. The Deputy Governor pointed out that Indian drugs already had a big market in Russia and it was time to expand the partnership in the sector.
"We have successful stories about some Indian companies in pharmaceuticals. We gave a special contract for one Indian company under which we will be buying a part of their products for seven years after they finish their facilities," Khromov said, adding that his region was scouting for investments both in pharmaceuticals as well as chemicals. Large Indian companies such as Dr Reddy's, Glenmark and Ranbaxy export to Russia.