Press Release: Roundtable Discussion on “Investing in India’s SEZs
10/14/2014

The Embassy ofIndia today organized a roundtable discussion on “Investing in India’s SEZs” atthe Embassy in Beijing. Around 40 participantsattended the discussion on the SEZ framework in India and the specificopportunities in select SEZs. The Roundtable was held to coincide with thevisit of a 6-member delegation to China led by Mr. Madhusudan Prasad,Additional Secretary in charge of Special Economic Zones in the Department ofCommerce of India. The delegation is here to exchange experiences with Chinesestakeholders on developing SEZs and to seek more Chinese investment in IndianSEZs. The delegation also includessenior government officials from the Ministry of Finance and SEZ developerssuch as Sricity Private Limited, Mahindra Life Spaces and SIPCOT Tamil Nadu.

AmbassadorAshok Kantha in his remarks encouraged Chinese companies to build on thesuccessful visit of President Xi Jinping to India last month and the launch ofthe “Make in India” campaign on 25th September 2014 that focusses oninvestment in manufacturing and infrastructure. He added that, apart from the two industrial parks announced inMaharashtra and Gujarat during President Xi’s visit to India, Chinese companiescould consider investing through the SEZ route that also offers a viableoption. Detailed presentations by the Director General of the Export PromotionCouncil for EOU & SEZs and the developers further shed light on SEZdevelopment in India. A livelydiscussion followed the presentations during which Chinese companies sharedtheir experience of investing in India while others raised queries on fiscalincentives and other benefits accruing from SEZs.

The delegationwill also meet the Ministry of Commerce during their visit and visit Tianjin,Shanghai and Suzhou. The Embassy willfollow up with investment promotion seminars in other cities including Qingdaoand Chongqing next month.

Beijing
14th October 2014