CII Communique - February, 2010

manufacturing services
msmes
SMEs to Anchor Indo-Czech Trade
Enterprise to Enterprise cooperation will be
the backbone of India-Czech bilateral trade
and investment in the years to come, said
Mr Dinesh Rai, Secretary, Union Ministry of Micro, Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSME), India, at his meeting
with Mr. Milan Hovorka, Deputy Minister for Industry &
Trade, Czech Republic, in Prague, on 13 January. Mr Rai
also highlighted the tremendous scope for expansion in
the Indian markets, pointing out that 54% of the Indian
population is
below the age of
25 years, making
India a very young
nation, with
great potential
for efficiency,
productivity and
competitiveness.
Mr Rai led a
SME mission
to the Czech
Republic from
12 – 14 January,
organised by CII,
CII SME delegates with Dinesh Rai, Mission
Leader & Secretary, Ministry of MSME
(2 nd from left) and D P Srivastava,
Ambassador of India in the Czech Republic
(3 rd from left) in Prague
in association with the Union Ministry of MSME, and
the Embassy of India in the Czech Republic, to explore
the vast untapped two-way trade between the Czech
Republic and India. The mission had a five-point
agenda:
1. Increase bilateral trade and investment with particular
emphasis on SMEs, between India and the Czech
Republic
2. Understand the opportunities for Indian SMEs in
the businesses they represent vis-à-vis the scenario in
Czech Republic
3. Trade and enter into strategic business alliances
with counterparts - SMEs/ OEMs/ aftermarket suppliers
in both and/or third countries
4. Promote Technology and Science links between
India and Czech Republic
5. Facilitate learning about capacity building and
innovation among SMEs in the Czech Republic
The CII SME delegation interacted with the Economic
Chamber, Czech Invest, Czech Technical University, and
the Association of Small and Medium sized Enterprises
and Crafts of the Czech Republic.
Some of the new initiatives that are being contemplated,
as a follow-up to the visit of the SME delegation include
the Global R&D Conclave, proposed to be organised by
CII, with the active engagement of Czech Invest and the
Czech Technical University along with a group of Czech
companies, the Ministry of MSME and the Embassy
of India, in the Czech Republic.
This initiative will help bring
together industrial users and R&D
organisations of the two countries,
as well as provide new opportunities
for engagement between the SMEs
in the two countries.
CII SME delegates with D P Srivastava, Dinesh Rai, Milan Hovorka,
Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade, Czech Republic and
Alexandra Rudysarova, CEO, Czech Invest
After a decline in bilateral trade last year. due to the
global economic slowdown, the graph has started going
up again. Bilateral trade in October 2009 was 36% higher
than in February 2009. Czech exports to India increased
by 69% during this period, while Czech imports from
India showed an increase of 5%.
The CII SMEs delegation included entrepreneurs from
the telecom, textile, light engineering, optical fibre cable,
machine components, and castings industries. The
delegates,during their business-to-business meetings,
interacted with their counterpart organisations from the
Czech Republic, to market their products and explore
opportunities for joint ventures, collaborations and
technology transfers.
46 | February 2010 Communiqué