German parliamentarians woo India Inc

A delegation of newly-elected parliamentarians from the North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) region of Germany is in the city this week to meet Indian corporates and visit a few of their facilities.
Petra Wassner, the CEO of NRWInvest, a part of the ministry of economics and energy, NRW, Germany, said her team was looking to strengthen ties with India through industry.

“NRW is an excellent region option for any Indian company looking to enter the European markets,” she said and added that the region has ample resources and infrastructure to set up chemical, heavy machinery, automobile and many other industries.

Commenting on the financial crisis in the eurozone, Wassner said uncertain times were ahead for the whole of Europe. “There have been many mistakes... Europe needs a common economic policy and all member nations need to commit to it.”

Wassner believes that India won’t be heavily affected by the downturn. She said many German companies were investing in Indian companies because of it. “Many German companies have already set shop in India and more will look to follow that trend. Indian corporates have good set-ups and are easy to work with,” she said.

When asked if Germans investing in India will have any opposition at home, Wassner said, “This is a global world. In a fair way, India should have the chance to benefit and we have no problem with it.” 

Amit Nivsarkar, vice president of National Association of Software and Service Companies, gave a presentation on the success story and the path ahead for the Indian IT-BPO sector. He told the NRW delegates of the large pool of IT talent that exists in the country.

Dr Jens Peterson, a member of parliament from the NRW region and chairman of the committee for economic affairs, small business and energy, said he finds the Indian growth story very interesting. “India is developing at 8% to 9%. This is very unusual for European countries.”