By IANS
New Delhi : Business titans of India and Russia will hold a two-day meeting of their trade and investment forum starting Tuesday that is expected to take business ties between the two strategic partners to a new level.
The two-day forum will be inaugurated by Russian Prime Minister Victor A. Zubkov, who will be accompanied by Minister of Economic Development and Trade E.S Nabiullina and some 125-odd Russian business officials and tycoons like Vladimir Yevtushenko, head of the Sistema Group.
Vladimir Rashevsky, general director of Siberian Ural Energy Co (SUEK Group), Alexander Shokhin, president of Russia’s Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen, and Valery Okulov, general director, Aeroflot-Russian Airlines, are some of important Russian business figures who will participate in the forum.
Habil Khorakiwala, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Adil Zainulbhai, India managing director of McKinsey and Co, and R.S. Butola, managing director of ONGC Videsh Ltd, will be among those representing Indian business interests at the meet.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath will also address the second meeting of the forum, which is expected to smooth out glitches like visas and information deficit that are hobbling trade between the two strategic partners.
The two sides are confident of enhancing bilateral trade from $4 billion currently to $10 billion by 2010.
Ahead of his visit, Zubkov has described India as “a trusted friend” and expressed Russia’s willingness to expand cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector. ONGC Videsh and Rosneft are already working in cooperation in Russia’s Sakhalin-1 reserves. The two companies have also reached an agreement to expand cooperation in Russia, India and in Third World countries.
Zubkov’s visit will also see the setting up of the first Russian bank in India. With 77.5 percent stake, Russia will be the majority shareholder in the JSC VTB Bank, expected to open in Delhi Tuesday.
In an upbeat projection, industry body Ficci has said that trade between India and Russia can increase over five-fold to reach $20 billion by 2015 if the two countries address procedural issues that impede business growth.
Ficci has identified a host of inhibiting factors like credit risk, insurance cover, Russian ban on import of farm products, registration time for pharma products and investment safeguards as factors hindering trade between the two nations.
Indian exporters also want Russia to reconsider the ban it imposed on bulk import of agricultural commodities from India.