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Indo-Dutch women entrepreneurs explore collaboration to expand business ties


NEW DELHI: Women are known for their ability to wear multiple hats and are champions of multitasking, according to Venu Rajamony, Ambassador of India to the Netherlands during the first round of virtual consultation organized under the tutelage of the Women of 7 Continents (W7) initiative by FICCI FLO.

He highlighted the need to reach out to women across the globe and facilitate joint initiatives in order to empower and support women entrepreneurs towards becoming an integral part of the workforce enabling societal transformation and economic development in India”.

Rajamony said “It is extremely important to bring women into the economy, enable & nurture them as entrepreneurs in India to act as catalyst, an agent which works both for skilling as well as empowerment of women in the larger developmental process. It will automatically bring benefit to the society & nation as a whole”

“In 2018, over 6 in 10 women were working in Netherlands and a third of women in Netherlands were entrepreneurs. Keeping that in mind, I think there is great potential for joint initiatives to address the challenges in empowering women and creating a sustainable life” he added

Jahnabi Phookan, President, FLO said, “Deepening the synergy and enhancing the collaboration between two countries is the need of an hour. Our wider goal is to create a worldwide forum for exchange of information, experience, visibility and connectivity among women business owners and the #W7 will the same objective and to support, initiate and improve efforts to integrate women vendors in the global value chain”

Namita Taneja Krul Vice President Finance of the Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce and Trade (NICCT) said, “For years NICCT has acted in promoting business relationships between the Netherlands and India and we at NICCT believe that the economies of both the countries are mutually complementary in many ways & the ongoing relationship evolving & growing stronger with the help of the embassies. We will be happy to help and support women entrepreneurs during their business journey, on both sides of this corridor”

Since the early 1980s, the Dutch Government has identified India as an important economic partner. Bilateral relations underwent further intensification after India’s economic liberalization in the early 1990s. In 2006, former Prime Minister Balkenende’s Government declared India, along with China and Russia, as priority countries in Dutch foreign policy.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited India from May 24-25, 2018 along with a highlevel delegation comprising of Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Minister for Medical Care and Mayor of the city of The Hague. PM Rutte was accompanied by largest ever Dutch trade mission to India comprising over 130 companies/institutions and nearly 200 trade representatives. During this visit, the Netherlands signed the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and became the 64th signatory member country.

There are over 200 Indian companies operating in the Netherlands. The Netherlands emerged as the 3rd largest investor in India in 2017-2018 with investments valued at $ 2.67 billion across variety of sectors such as services sector, trading, automobile industry, fermentation industries, chemicals and water management. It was the second largest destination for foreign investment by Indian companies, after Singapore with investments worth Rs. 835 billion (approximately $ 12.8 billion) in 2017.

The top five sectors attracting FDI equity flows from the Netherlands were services sector, computer software and hardware, trading, automobile industry and fermentation industries. India and the Netherlands have a bilateral trade of US$ 8.77 billion (April 2017-March 2018). Indian Exports to the Netherlands grew at 14.7%, while Indian Imports grew at 18.2%. During the current financial year, FY 2018-2019 (April to September), total two-way trade stood at $6.28 billion.

The Netherlands was India’s 4th largest trading partner in the EU, after the UK, Germany and Belgium. The main items of Indian Exports to the Netherlands are Petroleum and related products, apparel and clothing, textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles, manufactures of metals and iron & steel, organic chemicals and medicinal and pharmaceutical products, electric machinery, telecommunication equipment, general industrial machines and road vehicles, vegetables & fruit, marine products, rice and coffee, tea, cacao, spices etc. Bilateral trade between India and Netherlands grew in India’s favour during April-March 2018. The successful implementation of the electronic Tourism Visa (eTV) in the Netherlands w.e.f. 15 August 2015 has contributed greatly to increased business and tourism flows and people to people contacts.

The Netherlands has identified 9 sectors as key sectors viz. Agriculture, Water management, Ports and logistics, Inland waterways, Healthcare, Science & technology, Urban development, Shipping and Renewable energy. As the Dutch strengths in these sectors match India’s needs, these are priority sectors for bilateral cooperation.





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