In the hope that a free trade agreement would soon be signed between Turkey and India, President Gül laid emphasis on maintaining the political determination, which can be seen in both countries.
President Gül attended a working luncheon given by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Association of Indian Chambers of Industry and Commerce (ASSOCHAM).
During his speech, President Gül said that the accompanying Turkish businessmen had seen for themselves how India was once again becoming a thriving economy. He reported that the Indian PM had told him of India’s plans to make a 500 billion dollar investment in infrastructure with the construction of some 13,000 km of roads across the country and he declared India to have a huge and dynamic economy.
“TURKEY CAN OFFER INDIAN BUSINESSMEN GREAT OPPORTUNITIES”
Turkey, a member of the E.U. Customs Union through which it boldly competes, claimed the president, grows by 7-8% every year and he declared that Turkey could offer Indian firms great opportunities. Turkey, continued the president, is a country easily be accessed by other surrounding countries with most of which it has signed free trade agreements. It is also a country that has managed to started trading with Russia in its own currency and which is carrying out her membership negotiations with the E.U. He then urged Indian businessmen to invest in Turkey.
President Gül further declared India to have become a secure and trustworthy country, thanks to the reforms it had implemented over the last two decades and added that both the Turkish and Indian states are eager for collaboration between the firms of both countries and exclaimed: “Now, it is down to you to cooperate and conduct business!”
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
He also reiterated his hope for a free trade agreement to be signed. The present conjuncture between Turkey and India, insisted President Gül, is such that it encourages the firms from both countries to establish cooperative ventures and even to make investments in other countries.
JOINT ELECTRICITY METER MANUFACTURING
A Turkish firm named Elektromed , functioning under the Termikel Group and an Indian firm named Gloabtel Convergence under the Indian Morakhia Group have signed an agreement to establish a factory to manufacture smart electricity meters. It is planned that they will produce 1 million electricity meters at the factory to be run on a 50-50 basis. With these electricity meters, it is expected that the problem of electricity payment evasion in India will be resolved. The parties also anticipate that they will reach a turnover of 25 million dollars and hope to sell electricity not only to India but also to other countries in the region.
