Piyush Goyal Opens DGAP India Centre During Berlin Visit

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal held a round of high-level engagements in Berlin on 22 October to deepen India-Germany trade, investment and industrial cooperation. The day included a bilateral meeting with the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Ms Katherina Reiche, the opening of an India Centre, a business roundtable and a panel at the Berlin Global Dialogue.

Bilateral meeting and the India Centre

In the bilateral talks the two ministers took up closer industrial collaboration and what the proposed India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could do for two-way trade and investment. They then jointly inaugurated the India Centre at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin, which is meant to carry forward policy research and dialogue on relations between the two countries.

Business roundtable

The ministers co-chaired an India-Germany Business Roundtable held with DGAP and the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), attended by German chief executives and business leaders. Shri Goyal spoke on accelerating growth and building a new era of trade, while Ms Reiche spoke on turning the FTA into industrial reality, and the discussion that followed looked at converting the prospective agreement into concrete trade and investment.

Berlin Global Dialogue

At the Berlin Global Dialogue the minister joined a panel titled "New Era, New Alliances: The Third Path?" along with the German Chancellor’s Personal Representative for Investment Mr Martin Blessing, Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Dr Tan See Leng, and Marcegaglia Steel Chairwoman and CEO Ms Emma Marcegaglia, in a session moderated by Prof Dr Lars-Hendrik Roller. Shri Goyal stressed trust, complementary economic strengths and resilient supply chains as the basis of international partnerships.

Company meetings and the delegation

He also met Mr Stefan Oelrich of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of its Pharmaceuticals Division, Mr Murat Akyildiz, Managing Partner of the Knauf Group, and Mr Michael Sen, CEO of Fresenius SE and Co. KGaA, to look at business and investment opportunities. A delegation of around 100 Indian businesses and startups is travelling with the minister to Germany and the Netherlands, as part of continuing work on the India-Germany Strategic Partnership in trade, investment, technology and industry.