President asks Indians abroad to invest in India

President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday asked the Indian community in Russia to bring in their skills and capital to support the government’s initiatives to make the country a global manufacturing hub.

He also asked the Indian community here to contribute substantially to further enhance Indo-Russia ties, especially economic ties.

Addressing the Indian Community members in Russia, Mukherjee said India-Russia relations have now touched almost every field of human endeavour and it involves cooperation in political, security, defence, trade, science and technology, education and culture. “Having said that, there is a need to further enhance our level of economic engagement. Trade and investments are the pillars of economic relation,” he told the impressive gathering.

The President said total trade between India and Russia is $6 billion annually which is 0.8 per cent of India’s trade amounting to $765 billion.

Since April 2000, FDI inflows into India is $246 billion and out of which only $1 billion or 0.4 per cent of the total inflows has come from Russia. “Given the size of our economies, there is huge potential to enhance commercial and investment exchanges. It is a challenge for all of us to utilise synergies and new opportunities that are arising between the two economies.