Slovak companies and institutions held more than 300 business meetings at the second annual Slovak Technology and Innovation Day, which was organized by the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Delhi together with one of the largest Indian chambers of commerce, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MZVEZ) of the Slovak Republic reported this during the visit of Minister Juraj Blanár (Smer-SD) to India.
The ministry reported that the delegation of the minister and state secretary of the department, Rastislav Chovanec, held talks with the second most important Indian investor in Slovakia, the company Amara Raja, which is a long-term partner and investor of the Slovak company InoBat. The joint venture of InoBat and the Chinese company Gotion High-tech is implementing the battery factory project near Šurany.
The Minister and the State Secretary also met with the President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, which signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency. The Ministry of Diplomacy added that three other Slovak companies and institutions have also concluded memoranda of understanding with Indian partners.
The Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) sees significant potential in the development of exports of Slovak companies to the Indian market. According to SARIO a possible free trade agreement between the European Union and India would bring a shift and simplify the application of Slovak entrepreneurs on the Indian market.
"In the qualitative structure of mutual trade, we observe a trend of increasing trade in engineering and technological commodities, which are among the key sectors of the Slovak economy. We have not only a rich history and quality in them, but also great development potential, for example, automotive, energy and renewable resources, information and communication technologies, telecommunications, pharmacy and biotechnology, space technologies," the agency explained.
At the current business mission, SARIO, at the request of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MZVEZ) of the Slovak Republic, ensured the coordination of the agenda, the recruitment of participants, the preparation of business forums in New Delhi and Kolkata and the presentation of the Slovak investment and business environment, as well as prospective sectors for cooperation.
Since 2017, the agency has successfully implemented three investment projects originating from India, totaling 1.5 million euros, which created 250 jobs. The investment projects from India on which SARIO has cooperated in the past were mainly from the automotive sector, the ICT sector and shared service centers. These investors were Tata Consultancy Services, Dhoot Transmission and HCL Technologies.
Eximbanka is also ready to help Slovak companies export to India. "Traditional and still promising sectors in terms of supporting exports through our insurance, banking and guarantee products are the engineering industry and the supply of technological solutions. We perceive growing interest, especially in exports with higher added value from the field of the electrical engineering industry. The possibility of support from Eximbanka may have specific relevance, especially for companies that are currently in the final phase of licensing and permitting procedures for implementing activities on the Indian market," said Matúš Šársky, Director of International Relations at Eximbanka.
Source: TASR
