Egypt
(Source : Embassy of India, Cairo)
Potential products of Imports from India
Automobile and auto components (8708) - Egypt is strategically located close to many developing countries with open markets for car imports. The Egyptian automotive Market Volume in 2018 reached 19,804 vehicles (15088 are passenger cars, 1586 buses and 3130 trucks) compared to 14,673 vehicles in 2017 (with increase of 35.6 %).
All auto majors like GM, Toyota, BMW, and Hyundai have presence in Egypt. Our exports of automobiles during 2018-19 were USD 136.2 million and auto components were USD 77.5 million in the same period (Total 213.4 Million USD).
Following the implementation of zero tariffs for automobile imports from EU to Egypt early this year, as per provisions of Egyptian – European Partnership Agreement, there were some concerns among local auto component manufacturers on likely adverse impact on them. However, the Egyptian Government has recently come up with customs incentive scheme to protect local manufacturing while at the same time keeping the doors open for imports.
Bajaj has a partnership with Ghabbour of Egypt for CKD assembly of two and three wheelers for Egyptian markets. TVS and Mahindra also have presence in the market.
IT and IT enabled services (Information technology Items: (85) - Egypt has a significant ICT and business processes outsourcing industry in place serving international customers. Given the huge population, rising economy and relatively low PC penetration, the country will continue to be an important market in the coming years. Egypt also offers easy access to markets in Middle East and Europe. More than 27.37 million Egyptians regularly surf the internet — more than the population of many European countries from which over 4.20 million subscribers has ADSL line.
Project exports in railways, construction, renewable energy, infrastructure etc.(Railway Items: 86) (Electrical Machinery: 85) - Egypt has announced various mega projects which have created opportunities for the project exports by the Indian companies. Some of the major projects are: Suez Canal Economic Zone, High Speed Trains and new Metro lines, Housing units’ project, 1.5 million feddan (acre) land reclamation project, Renewable Energy projects and new Administrative Capital.
Online India Business Forum (IBF) meeting was held on 15 April with participation of 23 members of the Indian business community in Egypt. Eng. Tarek Tawfik, Deputy Chairman Federation of Egyptian Industries, spoke on the measures taken by the Egyptian government to support the Egyptian industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. H.E. Mr. Rahul Kulshreshth, Ambassador of India, raised the Indian efforts to confront COVID-19 pandemic.
Republic of Korea
(Source : Embassy of India, Seoul)
Significant trends in trade and investment
Trade - During January-June 2020, Republic of Korea’s exports inched down -11.3 percent to USD $240.64 billion. Imports also inched down -9.0 percent to $229.85 billion. The trade surplus stood at $10.80 billion. In June 2020, South Korea’s export recorded $39.23 billion with -10.9 percent decrease and import stood at $35.60 billion with -11.2 percent decrease. South Korea recorded trade surplus of 3.63 billion alone in June 2020.
Analysis - Although exports in June decreased year-on-year due to the continued impact of the coronavirus, major indicators have improved. The trade balance also remained positive for the second consecutive month, reaching a level similar to the previous year’s average ($3.2 billion). The export volume, which had shown a sharp drop in April and May, also recovered to a level similar to that of the previous year.
Investment - Total investment made by Korea to India amounted to $251 million during January-March 2020. Majority of the investment came from real-estate activities, followed by Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply. Cumulative investment since 1980 stands at $6.67 billion.
[Samsung Display invests $700 million to build smartphone panel facility in India]
Samsung is planning to build a display plant in Uttar Pradesh by investing $705 million. Samsung Display`s Indian plant is expected to create about 1,300 jobs as it plans to operate in 2021. Previously, Samsung Electronics invested $700 million (about 800 billion won) to complete a Smartphone plant in Noida, India, in July 2018. It is the largest single plant of Samsung Electronics` mobile phones. In the following year, Samsung`s smartphone parts affiliate also established a corporation in India. Samsung Electronics plans to increase production capacity of Noida plant from 68 million units a year to 120 million units a year within this year.
New Zealand
(Source : High Commission of India, Wellington)
Minister of Trade and Export Growth David Parker spoke about the significance of keeping the supply chains open for trade of essential items with countries including India during the pandemic. While speaking to Indian Weekender on 3 June, he also spoke about his trade delegation to India this year from 24-28 February 2020. He said that NZ’s technology and products (particularly in dairy and meat) can increase bilateral trade without damaging the local producers of India. Parker also appreciated that India was quick to respond to their medicinal demand during the pandemic and indicated that post COVID-19, this could enhance bilateral trade. He stated that more funding has been given to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) which will enable them to grow internationally.
Award of $ 20 mn contract to HCL: Fonterra, NZ’s largest dairy cooperative, awarded a $ 20 million an year IT contract to Indian IT major HCL, which won a close race with another Indian company TCS. In view of the poor economic condition because of COVID-19, many were expecting the contract to be awarded to a domestic company.
India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) hosted India – NZ trade response webinars: INZBC, in association with FICCI hosted its third webinar on NZ – India trade relation series on 11 June 2020, which focused on the impact of COVID-19 on the Education Industry. Panel of speakers included Clare Bradley, Chief Executive of Aspire2, John Laxon, Regional Director – Asia in Education NZ, Lester Khoo, Group Director at Auckland University of Technology, Dr. Anju Kacker Executive Director and President of Aptech, Gaurav Vats from FICCI and Bharat Chawla, board member of INZBC, who hosted the event. On 25 June, INZBC in association with the High Commission of India and PHD Chamber of Commerce organised fourth and last edition of a series of webinars on post-Covid-19 economic recovery. The webinar provided guidelines for post-COVID-19 world trade and import-export regulations. The panel of speakers included Mr Ajay Poddar, Chairman, East Asia and Oceania, PHDCCI, Mr Vikram Cera, Co-Chairman, International affairs Committee for Europe and CIS, PHDCCI, and Ms Mel Poulton NZ’s special agricultural trade envoy.
Thailand
(Source : Embassy of India, Bangkok)
Webinar on Business and Investment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh
14.07.2020
A Webinar was held on Business and Investment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh on 30 June 2020. As a follow up action a Webinar was held on 14 July, 2020 between concerned officers from Government of UP and the representatives from Big C Supercenter PCL, Thailand. During the interaction and discussion Big C Supercenter PCL, Thailand shown interest in importing agriculture/ horticulture products from India.
Google to Invest $10 Billion in India
Tech giant looks to tighten its ties to one of the last great untapped digital markets
Bangkok Post 15.07.2020
Google is planning to invest $10 billion in India as part of plans to make theinternet "affordable and useful" for a billion people. CEO Sundar Pichai announced the investment via livestream on Monday at the annual Google for India event. "This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy," he said in a statement. "India`s own digital journey is far from complete. There`s still more work to do in order to make the internet affordable and useful for a billion Indians ... from improving voice input and computing for all of India`s languages, to inspiring and supporting a whole new generation of entrepreneurs," he added. The Google for India Digitization Fund will pour money into India`s tech sector over the next five to seven years through a mixture of equity investments, partnerships, and spending on infrastructure. The investment will focus on enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, building new products and services relevant to India`s unique needs, helping businesses with digital transformation and leveraging technology and artificial intelligence for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture. "As we make these investments we look forward to working alongside Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and the Indian government, as well as Indian businesses of all sizes to realize a shared vision for a Digital India," Pichai, who was born in India, said. "Our goal is to ensure that India not only benefits from the next wave of innovation but leads it."
Infosys Named as Global Service Provider Partner of the Year by ServiceNow
Newswit 22.07.2020
Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, has been awarded the 2020 ServiceNow Global Service Provider Partner of the Year for achieving overall excellence in delivery and ServiceNow pipeline growth. The ServiceNow Global Alliances and Channel Ecosystem acknowledged the achievements of its best-in-class partners by evaluating a combination of attributes such as revenue contribution, product line expansion, skill growth, and business transformation. Infosys offers a suite of offerings for IT Service Management (ITSM) and Enterprise Service Management to automate, modernize and transform enterprises` service management landscape. Equipped with an automated knowledge base, CXO dashboards, and innovative real-time service management capabilities, Infosys` ServiceNow offerings improve user experience and minimize platform customizations to deliver greater value to its customers.
DOC interaction with Mission
22.07.2020
JS(FT/ASEAN), Department of Commerce interacted through Video Conference with the Mission officers on 22 July, 2020 and discussed about the functioning of the Commercial Division of the Mission and various issues related to India and Thailand including focused areas of Trade/Investment, technology & tourism.