New Delhi: India and Belgium have set the target of doubling bilateral trade in the next five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday. PM Modi made this statement during his ongoing visit to the country, while addressing a joing press conference with his Belgian counterpart, Bart De Wever. Both the countries moved to deepen economic, defence, clean energy and technology cooperation.
Modi said the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement concluded earlier this year has opened up new possibilities for economic ties.
“Earlier this year, we concluded a historic Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union. This unprecedented cooperation between two of the world’s largest democratic powers will further strengthen global stability, growth, and shared prosperity,” Modi said.
He said both the nations have taken up several initiatives to translate the new economic opportunities into concrete outcomes, including establishing an Investment Fast-Track Mechanism in India for Belgian companies.
“We have decided to make the India-Belgium Business Forum a regular mechanism. We will enhance synergy between the financial, fintech, and regulatory institutions of both nations, and through these measures, we will realise the goal of doubling bilateral trade over the next five years,” he said.
“Today, the scope of our cooperation has expanded beyond traditional sectors to strategic areas such as defence and clean energy. We are working together on advanced defence equipment, such as the Zorawar tank. In Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, we are developing one of the world’s largest green ammonia projects,” the PM said.
The PM also mentioned that defence and security cooperation was a key pillar of the bilateral relationship. “Today, we agreed to enhance military exchanges and training cooperation between the two countries. The agreements between our governments and defence industries will open up new opportunities for defence co-development and co-production. We will also further strengthen intelligence sharing and cooperation between our agencies in combating crime,” he added.
A clean energy future and reliable supply chains are the shared priorities of both the countries. “The MOU on Renewable Energy signed today will give new momentum to our sustainability cooperation. In critical minerals, we have decided to enhance cooperation in processing and recycling,” the PM said.
The PM also mentioned that Belgium’s expertise in semiconductors and India’s scale were complementary to each other. Thus, the Indian government will work to connect Belgium’s IMEC Institute with its semiconductor ecosystem.
