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Baltic Sea Region invites Indian investment in IT, telecom and pharma sectors

HELSINKI: India may emerge as one of the world’s top destination for foreign direct investments (FDIs), but it is Europe’s fast growing and developed economies spread around the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) that are trying hard to attract Indian investments, particularly in sectors such as information technology, telecom, pharmaceutical and engineering where India has proved its prowess in recent years.

The Baltic Sea Region Investment Forum (BSRIF) comprising government-supported investment and development agencies from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have chosen India as a “preferred partner” due to its booming economy and large market.

In 2006, the six-member Forum chalked out a three-year project and started sending their representatives to India to hold talks with prospective investors.

“It was more than a year ago that we decided to focus on India and invite Indian companies to invest in our region that offers business-friendly environment and has seen robust growth.

Though we have succeeded to attract some Indian companies to invest in the region, there is still immense scope left for Indian corporate and industrialists to explore the region,” Sweden’s representative in the Forum, Annika Rembe, said while interacting with a group of visiting Indian journalists in the region.

Putting up a strong case in favour of the region, the Forum officials said while the three “Baltic tigers” — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — are Europe’s fastest growing economies with growth rate between 8-10 per cent, the World Economic Forum’s statistics put Nordic States — Finland, Sweden and Denmark — among the “top 5” of the world’s most competitive economies.

“Countries under the BSR are in the top 12 for being most investor-friendly in the world. They offer competencies that complement those of the Indian partners. Easy access to European markets, cost-effectiveness, highest rates of industrial production growth in Europe and high production efficiency.

“We provide access to the Region’s 100 million consumers and 250 million in neighbouring Russia and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), apart from 450 million consumers of the EU,” said Laura Audarina, Forum’s project manager who is associated with Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.

Companies and agencies from these six Baltic countries are keen on partnering Indian IT, telecom and pharma companies. “Though a few leading Indian IT majors, including Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are already there in the region, we want more companies to come and invest in the region.

“They can also make the region as their hub to establish and monitor their pan-European network,” said IBM Lithuania’s Country General Manager, Rimantas Vaitkus, who is closely linked to Lithuania Development Agency. Similarly, Denmark’s Medicon Valley Alliance Managing Director, Stig Jorgensen, is looking to partner Indian firms for research projects.

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