by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Investing
New Delhi : With trade relations between countries being actualised at the state or regional levels, a Minister of the German state of Thuringia on Monday called for greater cooperation with Indian industry for the benefit of both.
Speaking at an Indian industry chamber Ficci organised business interaction here, Thuringia’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society Wolfgang Tiefensee highlighted the advantages for Indian business in investing in his state located in the heart of Germany, as well as of Europe.
Thuringia is a world leader in the optics industry, while its automotive industry boasts of leading global majors such as Daimler, Opel, Magna, Bosch and BMW.
“Since 2012, there has been a major improvement in our business relations with Thuringia’s exports to India jumping 34 per cent in 2018 over the previous year to touch 150 million euros,” Tiefensee said.
The Minister said Thuringia offers excellent conditions in mechanical engineering for generating innovations and launching internationally successful products and technologies.
Around 10,000 scientists are doing research in the state in more than 40 institutes and universities in close cooperation with businesses, he added.
An MoU was signed on the occasion between Thuringian firm Gramme-Revit and Indian distributor WB for a new food supplement against arthritis called DuoVital.
In his address earlier, Jasper Weick, Charge de Affairs at the Germany Embassy here, said that India and Germany have strong commonalities in their adoption of democracy, federalism and the free market.
He said that the India-Germany bilateral trade had risen at a healthy 10 per cent last year to touch nearly $22 billion.
Investments in both directions were thriving and close to 1,700 German companies were doing business with and out of India, he added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, News, Politics, Women Entrepreneur
New Delhi : Industry lobbies like the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) on Thursday announced tie-ups with NITI Aayog for the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) initiative.
The NITI Aayog’s WEC initiative aims to promote and support established as well as aspiring women entrepreneurs in India and create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem where women do not face any gender-based barriers.
“Through a joint programme, Ficci and NITI Aayog shall provide hand-holding, mentorship, capacity building, scaling up and networking support to 100 technology led women enterprises over a period of five years,” Ficci said in a statement.
It added that Ficci and NITI Aayog will also undertake policy advocacy towards formulation of policies and schemes that foster women entrepreneurship by identifying the existing gaps.
“Ficci is fully committed to work with NITI Aayog towards strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem for women in particular,” said Nirankar Saxena, Deputy Secretary General, Ficci.
“The women entrepreneurship ecosystem across the world has immense potential but is faced with financial and social barriers. Our aim is to provide a level playing field to women entrepreneurs,” Saxena added.
In another move, IT body Nasscom said it has entered into a partnership with NITI Aayog to provide a continuous stimuli for innovation and growth among the women entrepreneurs in the country.
“Nasscom through its start-up warehouses in 10 states would make available space for 15 women entrepreneurs led start-up across locations on a nominal charges basis, providing top class infrastructure, high-end technology and field expertise, and curated programmes to augment the growth of these women entrepreneurs,” Nasscom said in a separate statement.
Debjani Ghosh, President-Designate, Nasscom said: “India is now on its next growth curve, led by disruptive technologies like data sciences and AI and women in our country have been leading the growth to the next level.”
“The vision behind this initiative is to consolidate and streamline efforts in this space by building state-of-the-art infrastructure to amplify the impact that Women entrepreneurs in India can indigenously create,” Ghosh added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate finance, Investing, Large Enterprise, Retirement Plans
New Delhi : With health insurance remaining underpenetrated but considered expensive by the consumers, there is still significant opportunity to expand distribution and reduce cost of acquisition and services, a Ficci report said on Monday.
The report, prepared by Ficci and EY, ‘Distribution 2.0-Improving Distribution in Health Insurance’ was released by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Chairman T.S.Vijayan at Ficci’s 10th Annual Health Insurance Conference here.
“There is a need to increase consumer faith in the industry, and a perception of the value of the product. This will require a concerted effort by all the stakeholders – from the regulator, the insurers, distributors, health care providers, third-party administrators (TPA) and even pharmacies,” said Girish Rao, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Insurance Committee and Chairman & Managing Director, Vidal Healthcare Services, as per a Ficci statement.
According to Sandeep Patel, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Insurance Committee and CEO and Managing Director, Cigna TTK Health Insurance, the health insurance industry has been leveraging the new channels to expand outreach and reduce the cost of selling.
“However the acceptance of health insurance remains low. The need of the hour is to address the underlying reasons which drive purchasing behavior,” he added.
According to the officials, the Ficci-EY study tries to identify the key drivers of health insurance that the issues that hinder its spread and also pave the way for stake holders, policy makers and regulators to take initiatives to grow the business.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : Industry body Ficci on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the inaugural address at its 90th annual general meeting (AGM) which will held from December 13 to 14, 2017.
According to Ficci, this will be for the first time that Prime Minister Modi will speak at an AGM of a leading industry chamber in the country.
“At a time when economic growth has started showing signs of green shoots, the Prime Minister addressing India Inc. is expected to boost industry’s sentiments further,” the industry body said in a statement.
“His inaugural address at the two-day Ficci AGM (Dec 13-14) is also significant because though it has been an established practice in the past for Prime Ministers to attend the AGMs of business chambers, Prime Minster Mr. Narendra Modi will be doing this for the first time.”
“It is expected to strengthen the government’s efforts to engage with the industry after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, News, Politics
Washington : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the slowdown effect of demonetisation and GST roll-out on the Indian economy has played out and the country’s growth is now headed towards being more balanced and sustainable.
“The Indian economy is poised for strong, sustainable and balanced growth backed by the government’s strong focus on implementing structural reforms.
“There is clear evidence now that slowdown effect of demonetisation and GST has now more or less played out,” Jaitley said at an interactive seminar here on ‘India Opportunity’ organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).
“The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1 and its gradual complete transition, follow-up to demonetisation and enacting other structural reforms by the government would take the economy towards higher growth trajectory,” he added.
Jaitley is currently on a one-week official tour to Washington D.C. to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and other associated meetings.
He is accompanied by Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel and Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.
The Finance Minister spoke on the bold reforms carried out in India which now have created impressive opportunities in infrastructure assets resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process and in the financial sector, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Further, he stated that foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to India have increased in 2016-17 over 2015-16, indicating improved global confidence in the Indian economy.
He also spoke about the interface between the global and the Indian economy, national investments and the Infrastructure Fund and reform initiatives of the government, especially to improve ease of doing business.
—IANS