Indian Government Is Too Concerned About Opening Up Market Access To Israeli Companies: Officials
Accompanying the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s business delegation to India on his historic visit, Ohad Choen, Foreign Trade Administrator at the Ministry of Economics, Government of Israel talks to BW Businessworld in an exclusive interview. He opens up about the negotiations of an FTA, the roadblocks, excitement of partnership between businesses in the two countries and the possibility of reaching the target of 20 billion dollars in a trade by 2020.
Netanyahu who has flown back to Israel just a few hours ago was accompanied by the largest business delegation ever flown out from Israel to any country.
The business delegation which consisted of 100 companies, 20 Start-ups, and 30 Government officials from the economic arena aimed to collaborate with Indian companies.
During the visit 9 MoU’s have been signed in the field of Co-operation on Cyber security, oil and Gas sector, Air Transport Agreement, Film Co-Production, Homeopathic Medicine, Invest India and Invest In Israel.
Besides the MoU’s, a letter of intent between IOCL and Phinergy Ltd, IOCL and Yeda Research and Development Co Ltd have also been signed.
Bilateral trade with Israel currently stands at 5.04 billion except co-operation in the Defence sector. And it is increasing at a rate of 2.3 percent. Edited Excerpts.
This is the first time the Israeli PM has come to India with such a large business delegation. What does this mean in terms of investment numbers in India?
Almost 9 MoU’s have been signed during this historic visit of our PM to India. We have never had such a large delegation accompanying the PM to any country. Actually, we had a waiting list that could not accommodate everyone who wanted to visit India for business opportunities. The interest in the Israeli Business sector in India is rising. I want to quote Deepak Bagla on this, “Only in the last 6 months he had 60 times more queries from the Israeli Business sector in India.” So I believe since the visit of PM Modi and our PM we have had an increase in interest in our countries.
What are the roadblocks in settling down on an FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between India and Israel?
Well, FTA negotiations take years, it is not so easily done with one meeting. When you negotiate an FTA you need to take into account, the opportunities and the competition. The biggest roadblock that we face is market access. The Indian government is concerned about the market access and not to open it up too fast, too wide in order to enable Indian industries to grow. But Israel can’t compete with mass productions in India. So I don’t think we pose a threat over the Indian Industry.
India and Israel have vowed to invest 20 billion dollars in trade by 2020. How close are we to this target?
20 billion dollars only in trading goods will be very challenging. But if look on what we call economic exchange meaning the flow of investments, trade in services, tourism, software, cybersecurity then 20 billion maybe realistic.
Have you identified any new sectors for co-operation than the ones already on the agenda?
The role of our governments is to enable business sectors to cooperate. Our government does not target one sector more than the other. We just want more business and we don’t care what sector it comes from. What we try to demonstrate is to show the Indian side why they should do business with Israel and vise versa. And I think Technology is the key word here. We can’t compete with India on mass production but both India and Israel have wide technological capabilities and we should build up on it. In Israel, we are working on upgrading our infrastructure so we invite Indian vendors to join.
While India and Israel are calling out loud to the world telling them about their friendship, Embassy of Palatine has been demonstrating its agitation against the friendship. Your comments?
No reaction is required on that. We are doing what we are doing. Our PM was invited by PM Modi. We feel we are here in a very friendly environment and the Palestine supporters and the Embassy can do whatever they want.
Tourism is lacking to reach its full potential between India and Israel. Only 55,000 Indians travelled to Israel last year. What can we do to enhance trade volumes from India to Israel?
Only two words- Direct Flights. The current access we have is not enough. The travel plan right now is a little bit cumbersome. We hope one of the Indian carriers will enable direct flight to Israel which will enable more tourists from India to experience the beauty of Tel Aviv.
