India-Russia aim to reach USD 50 billion in bilateral trade in 2023: Embassy in Moscow

Moscow : India and Russia aim to reach a bilateral trade volume of USD 30 billion by 2025, Ved Prakash Singh, First Secretary and Head of the Economic and Commercial Department of the Embassy of India in Moscow said on Wednesday, TV Brics reported.

TV BRICS covers the economic agenda of the five countries. The list of partners includes the media of all BRICS states, including India. Addressing the India-Russia Business Forum on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Singh said, “This year, we have an opportunity to surpass that figure. In 2023, our goal is to reach a bilateral trade volume of USD 50 billion. This is historically high and a huge achievement.”

He pointed out that the two countries have the potential to develop in sectors like pharmaceuticals, chemicals and agriculture. Thus, it is possible to increase exports from India to Russia, according to TV Brics.

Ksenia Komissarova, Editor-in-Chief of the TV BRICS Media Network, was moderating the talks.

Meanwhile, Sammy Kotwani, president of the Indian Business Alliance (IBA) stated that the trade and economic cooperation between India and Russia has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years.

Kotwani further added, “The two countries are striving to strengthen partnerships in the energy sector, trade. A large number of agreements and contracts between the parties have been signed in recent years, laying the foundation for further deepening of our relations.”

Kotwani noted that India has a favourable business environment. Talking about IBA, he said that the association provide a certain set of measures to support entrepreneurs. IBA provides assistance in company registration, and allows entrepreneurs to get various permits and licences to do business in the country.”

Pavel Kalmychek, director of the bilateral cooperation development department of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, highlighted the main tool that will solve a lot of structural and systemic problems in the cooperation between the countries in the economy, reported TV Brics.

“This tool is a free trade agreement…We signal this to our Indian partners. We work very closely on the platform of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and we understand that this is the number one task in order to come to some mutually acceptable solutions,” he stressed.

The speaker also spoke about the potential of the two countries in the tourism sector. “We understand that our country can offer a huge number of tourist locations. And I am sure that St. Petersburg will be popular with the citizens of India. And here too, we are ready to offer system mechanisms and tools in terms of visa facilitation”, said Pavel Kalmychek.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is a unique event in the world of economy and business. Over the years, the forum has become the world’s leading meeting place for representatives of the business community and the discussion of key economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets and the world as a whole. The SPIEF 2023 will last until June 17, as per TV Brics.