India committed to be a steadfast partner of Myanmar: Anand Sharma

New Delhi:The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles Shri Anand Sharma today asserted that with democracy tightening its grip in Myanmar, which has provided a right enabling environment to inspire investors’ confidence, India remains committed "to be a steadfast partner of Myanmar as it charters its path to growth and progress." Speaking during a session entitled "The Long-Term View" at the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2013 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar today, Shri Sharma highlighted that India’s engagement with Myanmar is premised on a strong development partnership and that India would like to align its cooperation with the economic priorities of Myanmar.

With India concluding a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with ASEAN, Shri Sharma stressed that this over-arching framework will act as a catalyst to boost trade and investment ties with countries of the region including Myanmar. “India is working closely with Myanmar and Thailand to develop the tri-lateral highway as we call it… we are half-way there and am sure that by 2015-2016, this should be fully operational,” announced Shri Sharma.

Shri Sharma also spoke on the importance of investment in human resource, by adding that India has always believed that it will reap dividends in the long run. "We have already established Centre of Excellence in IT sector in Yangon. We are going to establish now Information Technology institute like a university in Mandalay. In addition to that we have also established an Industrial Training Centre in Pakokku to develop skilled labour for Myanmar industry," said Shri Sharma. During the visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2012, India announced doubling the number of training slot to Myanmar from 250 to 500.

Shri Sharma also added that India would also like to share her experiences with Myanmar in the enhancement of agricultural productivity and agricultural extension. “With this end in view, we are establishing an Advance Centre for Agricultural Research and Education at Yezin and a Rice Bio Park is also being established in Myanmar through grant assistance by India,” said Shri Sharma.

Speaking during the session, Shri Sharma also highlighted the importance of developing high-quality infrastructure. Putting stress on the fact that sound infrastructure will help in the creation of a robust economic linkage between India, Myanmar and beyond, Shri Sharma said that “India is developing Kaladan Multimodal Transit-Transport Project which will connect Mizoram to Sittwe port in Myanmar.”

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India, S. Africa may sign preferential trade pact this year

Hyderabad:India and South Africa may conclude a Preferential Trade Agreement by the end of this year, which would significantly boost bi-lateral trade, according to Moketsa Ramasodi, Chief Director, Department of Agriculture, Republic of South Africa.

The current bilateral trade between India and South Africa was over $14 billion, he said at a meeting organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry here today.

Exports from India to South Africa include vehicles and components, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, footwear, dyes and intermediates, he said, adding that there was substantial potential for trade growth between the two countries.

“We are sure, the India-SACU (South African Customs Union) PTA would enhance economic ties by reducing tariffs on several key products,” he said.

Devendra Surana, Faapci President, said significant investment opportunities could be tapped in the manufacturing sector, including food processing, floriculture, agro processing, petrochemicals, metals, textiles, leather, mining and transport.

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Amazon clicks into Indian online marketplace

New Delhi: Amazon, the world’s largest online retail company, has entered the Indian e-commerce space, promising low price for users and a better platform for sellers. India is the tenth market where Amazon has launched a country-specific retail Web site.

But unlike Amazon sites in other countries, the Indian venture is limited to third-party sellers. Amazon will not sell its own inventory due to foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations prohibiting foreign retailers from selling their own products online.

To start with, consumers will be able to buy books, movies and TV shows. Amazon.in will introduce additional categories including mobile phones and cameras in the coming weeks. On Day 1, the book store featured over seven million print books across 200 plus categories while the video store featured a collection of over 12,000 titles in English and Hindi.

While Amazon has not previously had a branded presence in India, in February 2012, it made its foray into the Indian market with the launch of Junglee.com, which connects buyers with online and offline retailers but with no sales transactions.

Real challenges
The launch of Amazon.in comes at a time when other e-commerce sites in the country have not been doing well. There are challenges including customer suspicion towards the quality of products sold online and lack of trust in payment mechanism.

Amit Agarwal, Vice-President, International Expansion, Amazon.com, told Business Line that while these challenges are real, other markets have shown similar trends at the nascent stage. “When you make your investment decision with a timeframe of 10 years then these things do not matter,” he said. From the consumer point of view, Amazon offers a platform that is aimed at offering a low price on any product by allowing sellers to compete.

For the seller, Amazon is offering unlimited shelf space with no listing fees. “From packaging to taxation to delivery logistics we are offering all of it in a simple package to sellers,” said Agarwal.

Pan-INDIA REACH
“Selling on Amazon presents an exciting opportunity as it opens up a new sales channel with pan-India reach at virtually no investment,” said M. S. Jaya Prakash, Proprietor, EducationSupplies. “Prior to this, I did not sell online and was apprehensive about how to fulfil online orders in a timely manner, handle customer service and manage returns.”

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Ruchi Soya partners Japan cos for edible oil

Mumbai:To introduce a super premium edible oil brand which Indian consumers have never witnessed, Ruchi Soya Industries, India’s leading food and agro-based FMCG player, has inked a joint venture with J-Oil Mills Inc and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), both from Japan.

Under the terms of agreement, a joint venture company would be formed soon by the probable name of Ruchi J-Oil in which Ruchi Soya would have a majority stake of 51%. While J-Oil, the technology partner in the joint venture, would have 26% stake with the remaining 23% proposed to rest with TTC.

“This alliance is an important step towards our business strategy of expanding our product portfolio by bringing value added and healthier products. We will provide raw materials and necessary marketing and distribution assistance to the JV. J-Oil will provide technical assistance and TTC with its rich global experience will provide management assistance for internal control and access to international markets through its network,” said Dinesh Shahra, Founder and Managing Director, Ruchi Soya.

In the joint venture, however, Ruchi Soya would look into manufacturing, branding sales and distribution with the company’s existing expertise in these areas. For this, however, Ruchi would transfer its existing soya processing business in Shujalpur in Madhya Pradesh to the joint venture to fetch Rs 40 crore.

The objective of this joint venture unit would be to introduce new edible oil for Indian market which local consumers have experienced in the past, a Ruchi Soya official said.

The JV will be managed by a board consisting of representatives from all the three companies. The JV plans to start supplying products to the institutional customers by the end of 2013 and launch high quality consumer products for the Indian markets in the second half of 2014.

Justifying the need of such joint venture, Sumikazu Umeda, President & CEO, J-Oil Mills, said, “The main purpose of this investment is to start our first ever business activity overseas in a promising country like India. J-Oil sees India as a vast and fast growing market and has plans to establish as a leading company in high quality value added edible oil segment.”
"Ruchi J-Oil JV provides us appropriate crossover opportunity to leverage our business networks, product portfolios, and skill sets. We create Global Vision 2020 in which we identified three business areas that we expect sustainable growth. We aim to expand food business in life and community field,” said Yoshiki Miura, Managing Director, TTC.

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TCS, Cognizant bag mega deal from UK Rail

Mumbai:UK's Network Rail has given out IT outsourcing deals worth £360 million to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant Technology Solutions and three other multinational companies as it prepares to work with a smaller set of technology vendors.

The five ‘framework agreements’ will enable Network Rail, which owns and operates Britain's railway infrastructure, in ‘simplifying its computing relationships’ with over 270 individual IT suppliers, according to a press statement from the London-headquartered company.

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MoU signed between Competition Commission of India and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

New Delhi: Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation at Canberra, Australia. The MOU was signed by Mr. Ashok Chawla, Chairperson, CCI and Mr. Rod Sims, Chairman, ACCC on 3rd June,2013. The signing took place in the presence of Mr. Sachin Pilot, Hon’ble State Minister of Corporate Affairs (Independent Charge).

The MOU provides for sharing information on significant developments in competition policy and enforcement developments in the respective jurisdictions. It is recognised that it may be in common interest of both the parties to work together in technical cooperation activities as well as cooperate in appropriate cases, consistent with the respective enforcement interests, legal constraints, and available resources. It is planned to evaluate the effectiveness of the cooperation under the Memorandum on a regular basis to ensure that the expectations and needs are being met. MOU is expected to further strengthen existing cooperation between CCI and ACCC

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UK to double trade with India

Kochi: The United Kingdom (UK) is attempting to double its trade with India by 2015, said Eric Pickles, British cabinet minister for communities and local government.

Pickles, who is leading a 20-member business delegation, was talking in Kochi on Wednesday in a seminar on UK-built environment expertise. The delegation is also exploring partnerships with the state government in environment, infrastructure, construction and water sectors.

"Close relationships are already paying off. In the national level, we collaborate closely on everything from energy security to climate change and healthcare," Pickles said. The relationship is benefiting the UK too, he noted.

"Like you, we are in the midst of an infrastructure boom, rolling out superfast broadband and laying down a national high-speed rail network, to give us the backbone to compete on the global stage," he noted.

The positive aspect of India is "the sort of inward investment that saw Tata transforming iconic British brand Jaguar Land Rover into a runaway success," he said.

UK-India partnerships are also blossoming in Kerala, Pickles observed. "The special-purpose vessels built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd ( CSL) to ensure safe marine navigation along the Indian coast were designed and powered by Rolls Royce Marine. HR Wallingford has developed the liquefied natural gas terminal for Petronet LNG Ltd in Kochi," he highlighted.

"We are now looking at doubling our trade by 2015," he added.

Meanwhile, 40,000 Indian students are studying in the UK. And the British Council has trained nearly 1 million English language teachers, reaching over 17 million aspirational Indians who know that speaking English will help them to get on in life.

According to the British government's website, the bilateral trade between India and the UK touched 16.4 billion pounds in the fiscal year 2011 - 2012.

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