For Indian products, Central and Eastern European markets can act as gateway: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Wednesday affirmed that Central and Eastern European markets can act as an important gateway for Indian products.

He also said that India and Europe have very strong historical and cultural connections and can capitalize on this to develop a strong economic partnership.

"Both India and Europe have complementary strengths especially in areas such as smart cities, renewable energy, start-ups IT and ITeS," Goyal said while addressing the India- Europe 29 Business Forum, organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today.

The Europe 29 (E29) region refers to the 29 countries in Central, Eastern and Northern Europe.

In addition to this, the minister suggested that the promotion of bilateral tourism may be considered as a major area of cooperation.

Speaking at the function, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Demography Policy, Bulgaria, Mariyana Nikolova too sought investments from India.

She stated that Bulgaria has a predictable and stable policy framework as well as one of the lowest tax rates in Europe at 10 per cent for corporates. She informed the dignitaries that the areas where India and Bulgaria can work together include pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery and agri and food processing, among others.

Vojtecj Ferencz, State Secretary and First Deputy Minister of Economy, Slovak Republic also highlighted that companies like TCS and Jaguar Land Rover had invested in the country, and there was a need to step up Indian investment.

Ministry of External Affairs secretary T S Tirumurti said that the economies of the two regions were complementary and invited the E29 economies to boost cooperation with India.

The India - Europe 29 Business Forum will act as a bridge and help close the geographical and knowledge gap between the two regions, he said.