Visa woes for doing business with CIS; chambers to be roped in
Updated: Aug 13, 2013 04:20:31pm
New Delhi, Aug 13 (KNN) Indian business persons wanting to visit CIS countries including Russia and Khazakastan, find it difficult to get visas as embassies of these countries in India require recommendation letters which are hard to get. This is more so for those planning their first visit to the countries of the erstwhile Soviet Union.
The demand for an alternative to the recommendation letter was made at a meeting with Ambassadors of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), organised by the EEPC India (earlier known as the Engineering Export Promotion Council) here today.
EEPC India Chairman, Aman Chadha said that getting a business visa to Russia and other CIS countries would be a lot easier now with the Indian government working an arrangement with its CIS counterparts wherein recommendation from one of the apex chambers would speed up the grant of visa.
“I understand that that the government has worked out a plan with Russian government wherein the recommendation with the apex chambers would be considered while granting business visas to Indian exporters. Similarly, with other CIS countries the same proposal is being worked out so that Indian businessmen can undertake projects smoothly in this potential region,” said Chadha.
He said that there are a number of issues that can hinder the realisation of the potential for increasing India’s trade with the CIS countries. These issues relate to connectivity, visa regime and lack of banking channels between India and some of the natural resource rich countries of the region. He further added that presently more than 14 flights are operational every week between India and CIS region. However, more needs to be done in terms of connecting the business persons from the CIS and India, he said.
Addressing the gathering, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Ravi Capoor said the Ministry is conducting outreach programmes in different cities to make Indian business persons aware of commercial opportunities available in the CIS countries.
“To fill the information gap, we in the Commerce Ministry are planning outreach programmes in five cities”, said Capoor, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, here today at the 2nd CIS Ambassadors` Interactive Round Table Forum organised by EEPC India. Two such programmes have already been conducted, including in Ahmedabad.
He said the Commerce Ministry views CIS, ASEAN, African and Latin American countries as the four fastest growing regions of the world.
For boosting trade, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma has formally invited Ihor Prasolov, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Ukraine to come to India for the third edition of the Indian Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS 2014), the flagship event of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as a partner country.
The trade between India and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) stood at USD 11.5 billion. However, it is possible to enhance the trade between India and CIS countries to USD 30 billion by 2020. The first step in this direction would be reaching the target of USD 20 billion by 2015. (KNN/PC)
The demand for an alternative to the recommendation letter was made at a meeting with Ambassadors of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), organised by the EEPC India (earlier known as the Engineering Export Promotion Council) here today.
EEPC India Chairman, Aman Chadha said that getting a business visa to Russia and other CIS countries would be a lot easier now with the Indian government working an arrangement with its CIS counterparts wherein recommendation from one of the apex chambers would speed up the grant of visa.
“I understand that that the government has worked out a plan with Russian government wherein the recommendation with the apex chambers would be considered while granting business visas to Indian exporters. Similarly, with other CIS countries the same proposal is being worked out so that Indian businessmen can undertake projects smoothly in this potential region,” said Chadha.
He said that there are a number of issues that can hinder the realisation of the potential for increasing India’s trade with the CIS countries. These issues relate to connectivity, visa regime and lack of banking channels between India and some of the natural resource rich countries of the region. He further added that presently more than 14 flights are operational every week between India and CIS region. However, more needs to be done in terms of connecting the business persons from the CIS and India, he said.
Addressing the gathering, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Ravi Capoor said the Ministry is conducting outreach programmes in different cities to make Indian business persons aware of commercial opportunities available in the CIS countries.
“To fill the information gap, we in the Commerce Ministry are planning outreach programmes in five cities”, said Capoor, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, here today at the 2nd CIS Ambassadors` Interactive Round Table Forum organised by EEPC India. Two such programmes have already been conducted, including in Ahmedabad.
He said the Commerce Ministry views CIS, ASEAN, African and Latin American countries as the four fastest growing regions of the world.
For boosting trade, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma has formally invited Ihor Prasolov, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Ukraine to come to India for the third edition of the Indian Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS 2014), the flagship event of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as a partner country.
The trade between India and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) stood at USD 11.5 billion. However, it is possible to enhance the trade between India and CIS countries to USD 30 billion by 2020. The first step in this direction would be reaching the target of USD 20 billion by 2015. (KNN/PC)
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