For India’s most essential imperatives, be it technology and the digital realm or being a green economy, Europe is critical. Long-term funding, innovation, markets, and best practices are all available in the region.
Also, Europe and India are both concerned about security, prosperity, and sustainable development. They are eager to collaborate and expand their Strategic Partnership to make the world a safer, cleaner, and more stable place.
At first glance, it might appear that COVID-19 has disrupted the hyper-connected society, supply networks and global markets. But it has also provided individuals and nations with more clarity. Now, India and European countries have fully realised the strategic potential of their cooperation, which was hampered by blocked bilateral trade and investment agreements. Hence, both parties demonstrate a genuine desire to improve their partnership. For example, a new historic high in the bilateral trade and investment relationship between India and the UK was achieved on 04 May 2021 with the announcement of the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) by the Prime Ministers of both the countries.
Sustainable technologies across a variety of industries, ranging from mobility and healthcare to digitalization, are reshaping our economy and society in ways that have never been seen before. These solutions are not only cutting total environmental costs, but they are also increasing efficiency and encouraging innovation. Start-ups and spin-offs, in addition to huge corporations, are playing an important role in speeding the adoption and spread of such technology. The funding of these projects would be a critical component in the adaptation of sustainable technologies. Forging a worldwide collaboration for financing sustainable technologies necessitates striking a delicate balance between many stakeholders’ economic, social, and environmental needs. These present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for both areas to explore partnership opportunities.
A crucial pillar of the collaboration should be providing high-growth creative enterprises with the finance they need to scale up quickly and respond to emerging opportunities.
The future of the India-Europe partnership is likely to be re-imagined based on how well these sustainable innovations are nurtured, exchanged, supported, and embraced across the two regions.
The Europe Session at FICCI LEADS 2021, is one such platform to encourage private sector interaction between Europe and India through business networks, to facilitate private investment and the development of global and regional value chains.
The author is Secretary General, FICCI
**This blog is a part of the ‘FICCI LEADS 2021: Reimagine the World’ series.
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