World News | Tech Innovation a Win-win for India-Dutch Ties, Says Indian Envoy

London, Dec 2 (PTI) The Indian embassy in The Hague hosted a special symposium to highlight the many opportunities to enhance India-Dutch ties, coinciding with the launch of India's G20's Presidency and its invitation to the Netherlands as a Guest Country.

The “India-Netherlands Partnership: Opportunities for Business and Investment” event on Thursday pinpointed the priority sectors of bilateral cooperation as water, agriculture, health and innovation.

Also Read | Afghanistan: People Marrying Off Their Young Daughters To Avoid Forced Marriages With Taliban Men.

The Indian ambassador to the Netherlands, Reenat Sandhu, highlighted the government's 'Make in India' initiative as offering great scope for investment and joint ventures for Dutch companies and also flagged the “unparalleled” scale that the Indian market offers.

“Our Make in India programme also aims to Make for the World and presents ample opportunities for investment and joint ventures for Dutch companies,” said Sandhu.

Also Read | Vladimir Putin Falls Down Stairs at His Residence, Soils Himself While Continuing To Suffer From Cancer: Report.

“At the same time, as a fast-growing economy, India needs technological tie-ups and can benefit immensely from Dutch expertise in a number of areas. The scale that India offers for application of technologies is unparalleled, and it can help technologies become more affordable and accessible. This mutual complementarity between India and Netherlands offers an excellent avenue for creating win-win partnerships,” she said.

Ravneet Mann, Vice President of Invest India, who had flown in from New Delhi for the event, invited Dutch companies to invest in India.

“It is a good opportunity to familiarise the Dutch companies about the new initiatives taken by the government of India to further intensify business cooperation,” she said.

Speakers from the Dutch government included Deputy Director-General for Enterprise and Innovation Michiel Sweers, who spoke about India-Netherlands cooperation in innovation and technology, and Jules Gerzon from the foreign ministry, who provided an overview of the future of the Indo-Dutch partnership.

“There is a huge potential for cooperation in innovation given the strengths of India and the Netherlands,” said Sweers.

“Today, India and the Netherlands enjoy strong political, economic and commercial relations. The bilateral partnership can only go higher from here,” added Gerzon.

According to official Indian government statistics, the Netherlands is India's fourth largest trading partner in Europe with the total bilateral trade exceeding USD 17 billion in 2021-22. It is also the largest export destination for Indian goods in Europe and the third largest export destination for Indian goods in the world.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)