Moscow Region Invites Indian Businesses To Invest
The Moscow Region is opening up to investments from India in a bid to further strengthen India-Russia relations. Deputy Governor of Moscow Region Vadim Khromov was in India to talk about the investment opportunity in the region. A high-powered six-member delegation led by Khromov met a host of government and business leaders in New Delhi and Mumbai. Deputy Governor Khromov said that the Government is creating an enabling environment including tax incentives, infrastructure support and low-interest rates of rubles to provide boost to investors from India.
Focusing on the time tested Indo- Russia bilateral relations Khromov said, “We are very keen to strengthen our relationship with India and we are seeking to partner with Indian businesses on a long-term basis.” Highlighting the many new initiatives undertaken by the Moscow Region to promote businesses there, Khromov said “we are actively looking to engage in dialogue with investors and sensitise them about the kind of support that the Government shall provide to them.”
During the visit of PM Narendra Modi to Russia in September this year, India and Russia pledged to scale up cooperation in trade and investments and grow the bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2025. PM Modi and President Putin agreed to more actively engage and enhance industrial cooperation, create new technological and investment partnership, especially in advanced high-tech areas and find new avenues and forms of cooperation.
Russian investment in India in 2017 has reached $18 billion and India’s total investment in Russia so far is 13 bn USD. The overall investment target of $30 billion that was set for 2025 has been already crossed.
The surge in the momentum is reflection of the strategic partnership between India & Russia. Giving further boost, Russian Ministry of Economic Development launched ‘Single window Service’ in October 2018 to facilitate hassle-free investment by Indian companies which will help achieve mutual trade and investment target. Some of the key priority sectors identified for focused interaction include hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals, mining, fertilizers, heavy engineering, gems & jewelry, chemicals, fertilizers and agriculture & food processing industry.
Highlighting the fact that some businesses, especially pharma companies, have flourished in Moscow with huge markets there, Khromov said that currently the focus sectors for which they are seeking investments are pharmaceuticals, agriculture, chemicals, automotive components and aviation. Big Indian pharma companies including Dr Reddy’s, Glenmark and Ranbaxy export to Russia. Khromov informed that the Ministry of Investment and Innovation in Moscow Region assists businesses with land selection, tax benefits, assistance in obtaining approvals among others.
Moscow is a major center attracting foreign direct investments. According to the Bank of Russia, Moscow received 65.7 billion US dollars of foreign direct investments in 2016. The companies registered in Moscow account for about 50% of foreign direct investments coming to Russia. According to the Bank of Russia, Moscow accumulated 3 billion US dollars of foreign direct investments by January, 2017. The largest investors are the developed countries: Germany, France, Italy, Austria, USA, Japan.
In terms of the market size, Khromov said it is home to one third of Russia’s consumer market with 15% (25 million) of the country’s population. According to Council for Investment Climate Development, Moscow region has the highest efficiency rating.
“There are over 1,000 large and medium-sized enterprises in the region, with over 20 new companies appearing every year. Last year, some 100 industrial investment projects worth over RUR 50 mio ($765K) were realized. In all, there are more than 1,000 investment projects being realized in the region at the moment,” Khromov said, adding that the Moscow Region ranks among the top regions in terms of comfortable environment for investors.
