SAARC eyes India as major source of engineering products
Around 54 European firms from the UK (15) and Germany are said to be building their networks with their Indian counterparts at the IESSSAARC region seems to be increasingly looking at India for meeting its engineering product requirements, said an engineering exports body. Various engineering firms from the SAARC countries present at the India Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) 2015 - the flagship event of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) and the Commerce Ministry – are looking at India as a major source of engineering products including those relating to high technology such as aircraft parts, automobile, and energy saving devices, EEPC said in a release. Speaking at the inaugural session, Ravi Capoor, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, termed this as an indication of impetus being provided to the Indian economy. “Giants including Kubota, iPRO Solutions and Great Waters are all converging in Mumbai at the flagship event of the EEPC India to sew up new tie-ups with Indian firms to integrate them in the global supply chain,” said Capoor. Stressing that ‘Make in India’ has caught global investors’ attention, Capoor said global giants like Xiaomi and Huawei have already set up manufacturing units in India, while iPhone and iPad manufacturer Foxconn is expected to open a manufacturing unit soon. Capoor assured the members that the government has been committed to improve and protect the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of innovators and creators by upgrading infrastructure and using state-of-the-art technology. Out of the total 358 companies participating in the expo, over a third is from the SAARC region, with maximum from Bangladesh (71) and Sri Lanka (55). Around 54 European firms from the UK (15) and Germany are said to be building their networks with their Indian counterparts at the IESS. The other major sourcing destinations for India are Africa (67), the ASEAN and CIS with 41 each, while 17 engineering firms are participating in the flagship event from Latin America and Caribbean. Though the US and Europe remain the top two markets for the Indian engineering exports which were around $70 billion in the previous fiscal, Africa, the ASEAN and South Asia hold a lot of promise for the future once there is a turnaround in the economic cycle; we are even focusing on Latin America, noted the EEPC chairman. The engineering show is being held from November 24 to November 26 and hosting over 400 exhibitors, 500 overseas buyers and 10,000 trade buyers.
November 25, 2015 |4:15pm IST
to success.