Greece
(Source : Embassy of India, Athens)
January 7, Ambassador Ms. Shamma Jain called on the Secretary-General, Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Anthanasios Vourdas, in connection with latter’s participation in the Global Aviation Summit held on January 15-16 in Mumbai and discussed the strengthening of the bilateral cooperation.
Ambassador called on the Greek Minister of Maritime and Insular Policy, Mr. Fotis Kouvelis, on January 10, and discussed the strengthening of the bilateral cooperation in the field of shipping sector.
At the invitation of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Mr. R.N. Choubey, Secretary General of the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Athanasios Vourdas and the Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister Mrs. Calliope Douti, attended the Global Aviation Summit held in Mumbai on 15 -16 January 2019. Secretary General Mr. Vourdas also participated in DGCA’s Roundtable Meeting.
On February 22, Ambassador Ms. Shamma Jain held a meeting with Ambassador (Retd.) Konstantinos Bitsios, Executive Vice Chairman of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) to identify measures to strengthen our bilateral trade and commerce.
Malta
(Source : High Commission of India, Malta)
Significant Trends in trade investment (Source: DGCIS)
Details of significant trends - Exports by India to Malta during 2017-2018 stood at US$ 195.86 million and India’s imports from Malta stood at US$15.95 million.
The main items of India`s exports to Malta are marine products, drugs, pharmaceutical & fine chemicals, inorganic/organic/agro chemicals, manufactures of metals, transport equipments, and other commodities. The main items of India`s imports from Malta are pulp and waste paper, metal scraps, organic chemicals, medicinal & pharmaceutical products, and electronic goods.
Analysis - During 2017-2018, there is an increase in export by India to Malta amounted to US$58.63 million and decrease in import from Malta to India amounted to US$6.42 million as compared during 2016-2017.
Saudi Arabia
(Source : Embassy of India, Riyadh)
A 4-member Invest India team led by Asst Vice President Mr. Varun Sood visited Riyadh and Jeddah (14 -17 April), following the signing of MoU between Invest India and SAGIA during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince to India in Feb, 2019. Invest India in association with SAGIA and Jeddah Chamber of Commerce organized Seminar on ‘Ease of Doing Business in India and Investment Opportunities’ in Riyadh (15 April) and Jeddah (17 April) respectively. In addition, they also briefed the Saudi businessmen on AGNII, an initiative of GoI to commercialize the innovative technologies. Cd’A Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan delivered the opening remarks Besides the Seminar, the delegation had 1-1 interactions with Senior Officials of SALIC, SABIC, SCISP, Dussur, Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and Chairman/CEOs of private companies such as Al-Fanar, Saudico Electronics, ACWA Power in Riyadh.
Information regarding upcoming major investments in India from respective country
Particulars of the asset/ company - Saudi Arabia is the 41st biggest investor in India with investments from April 2000 to December 2018 amounting to US$ 210.58 million.
Sector of Investment - There are a number of Indo-Saudi joint ventures or Saudi owned companies in India, in diverse fields such as paper manufacture, chemicals, computer software, granite processing, industrial products and machinery, cement, metallurgical industries, etc.
Thailand
(Source : Embassy of India, Bangkok)
Trade War shocks the world
Commerce Ministry has assigned all of Thai’s commercial ambassadors to monitor the impact of the new trade war round between the US and China, if president Donald Trump orders the import tax for China’s goods to be increased from zero per cent and 10 per cent to 25 per cent on May 10. Thailand, along with other countries such as India, Mexico, Vietnam and other, have been exporting more products to US since September 2018.
Turbocharging India`s digital economy
India is taking a great digital leap. Having reaped substantial rewards from building up its core digital sectors, such as information technology and business process management, the country is now seizing new digital opportunities in many more sectors, such as agriculture, education, energy, financial services, health care and logistics. There opportunities could delivery up to 500 billion dollars worth of economic value by 2025.
Samsung to build mobile battery, display plant in India
South Korea’s tech giant Samsung is making additional investments in India with the goal of making the 1.3 billion-population market its mobile business hub, according to industry and news reports Thursday. Samsung Electronics battery affiliate Samsung SDI and display panel maker Samsung Display recently invested around 25 billion rupees ($357.83 million) to build additional battery pack and mobile display assembly plants, according to local news outlets. Samsung is aggressively expanding its operations in India in order to overtake its Chinese rival Xiaomi and gain the lead in the Indian smartphone market, after losing out to Xiaomi in China for the past couple of years. In the first quarter of this year, Xiaomi shipped out 9.6 million smartphones in India, accounting for 30.1 percent of the market, according to data from Strategy Analytics. Samsung came in second with a 22.7 percent market share, shipping out 7.2 million smartphones.
Tunisia
(Source : Embassy of India, Tunis)
Analysis of Investment opportunities in Tunisia
Tunisian Government provides many incentives to promote foreign investment in Tunisia. About 3353 foreign companies operate in Tunisia in diverse sectors. The Government has primarily encouraged export-oriented FDI in key industrial sectors, such as call centers, electronics, aerospace and aeronautics, automotive parts, and textile/apparel manufacturing. Foreign participation is allowed in the privatization program of state-owned or state-controlled enterprises. This has attracted a significant share of Tunisia’s FDI in recent years. The privatization programme has taken place mainly in telecommunications, banking, insurance, manufacturing, and fuel distribution.