By: Adv Pranita Deshpande
Twitter: @advpranita_a
The Hague, The Netherlands: A delegation from the State of Uttar Pradesh led by the Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and comprising Minister of IT & Electronics Yogendra Upadhyay and senior state government officials was on a visit to the Netherlands from December 15 to December 17.
The State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in India is organising the ‘Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit (UPGIS) 2023’ from February 10 to February 12, 2023 at Lucknow. The 3-day long Investors Summit will bring together policy makers, corporate leaders, business delegations, academia, and think-tanks around the globe, and will collectively explore business opportunities and forge partnerships. Leading to UPGIS 2023, the State Government of UP is organizing roadshows across 18 Countries, to promote the investment attractiveness of Uttar Pradesh and garner investment intents.
The Netherlands is a partner country for the UPGIS 2023. On December 16, the Deputy Chief Minister held one to one Business meetings with CEOs & representatives of several Dutch companies like Paquell, Sport networking, DC Spirits, Harvest Waste, TerraworX, Valuecent etc that are considering investing in India, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. MOUs for investment worth Rs 8300 Crores were signed expressing intent of the companies to set up manufacturing facilities in UP in areas of waste to energy, green technologies, etc.
This was followed by a roadshow on investment opportunities in Uttar Pradesh that was attended by around 60 representatives from both the Dutch and Indian companies operating in the Netherlands. The Ambassador of India Reenat Sandhu, the Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and the Minister for IT & Electronics Yogendra Upadhyay spoke at the conference. The Director International at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Tjerk Opmeer, also addressed the gathering and spoke of the opportunities for investments in India and the strengths that India offers to foreign investors and businesses. The Principal Secretary (Housing & Urban Planning) Mr Nitin Ramesh Gokarn gave a presentation outlining the various opportunities that Uttar Pradesh offers for investments. The delegation interacted with the participants in the networking session that followed.
Earlier in the day, Tthe delegation visited the Gandhi Monument in The Hague and paid tributes to the father of India Mahatma Gandhi. The delegation also visited the Peace Palace and toured the facility that houses the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
The delegation thereafter travelled to the World Horti Center at Naaldwijk in Westland. World Horti Center is the knowledge and innovation center for international greenhouse horticulture. A leading platform where business, education, research and government jointly innovate, connect, inspire and share knowledge. There the delegation interacted with the Dutch Greenhouse ecosystem and were explained the R&D activities undertaken at Dutch Greenhouse Delta. The delegation were briefed about the HortiRoad2India initiative of the World Horti Center. The Special Envoy at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality, Frederik Vossenaar, also interacted with the delegation and explained about the India-Netherlands cooperation the in the agriculture sector.
The Deputy Chief Minister led delegation also hosted a business dinner in the Hague for the CEOs of India companies operating in the Netherlands like HCL Technologies, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Gateway Group.
Trade Statistics:
• With a GDP of US$ 3.5 trillion, India is now the 5th largest economy in the world, having recently overtaken the UK.
• India’s total trade with the world has crossed USD 1 trillion mark, with the merchandise exports recoding an impressive USD 422 billion.
• The Netherlands is now India’s 4th largest trading partner in Europe with the total bilateral trade exceeding USD 17 billion in 2021-22.
• The Netherlands is now the largest export destination for Indian goods in Europe.
• In 2022, the Netherlands has become the 3rd largest export destination for Indian goods in the world.
• The Netherlands is the 4th largest investor in India with total investments worth US$ 43 billion and also the 4th largest destination for Indian Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) with ODI worth US$ 23 billion flowing into Netherlands from India.
• More than 350 Indian companies have their presence in the Netherlands and a similar number of Dutch companies have their foothold in India
