What is beyond defence in India France bilateral ties?

As French President Emmanuel Macron visits India, Deputy Editor Snehesh Alex Philip speaks to Payal S Kanwar, Director General Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry to know more about the businesses beyond just the defence.
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Well hello and welcome to the print I’m SN Alex philli you would have seen the beautiful Republic Day Parade Where of course the French President Emanuel macron was the chief guest uh now what does this visit really mean for India and uh what is between India and France

Beyond just the usual that is the defense and strategic what about the People to People ties what about the business ties uh and for this I have with me uh Miss p canor now pile is the director general of the Indo French Chamber of Commerce and Industry so

She’s someone who closely uh you know interacts and also someone who promotes the business interest from both sides welcome to the print file thank you so much NES thank you for having me you know my first question you know when we talk about in India France relations everything goes down you know

People tend to focus on the Scorpions of Marines the Rafal Fighters the jet engine technology so what is beyond all this what is happening between India and France well uh SNES firstly I’d like to say that this two-day visit of you know the state visit of the French President

To India as Chief guest for Republic Day is an extremely important visit I mean firstly this is the sixth time that France has been invited as Chief guest which is the highest for any nation and similarly last when Prime Minister Modi had visited France for bastile day I was

A part of that visit and um even then the honor that was extended to India is extremely rare for any foreign leader so I think that is really a clear sign not only for both countries but for the world now in terms of um you know the trade and Economic and Business

Relationship between both countries it is a very strong and key pillar of the bilateral relationship so if we look at um on the investment side since the past 10 years since 2013 uh till now uh Investments have grown by 8X uh currently France is the seventh largest foreign investor in India and

FDI stands at about 25 billion euros uh which has you know really consistently grown over the years and we currently have more than 700 French companies that have set shop in India across sector so it’s really quite multifaceted uh these companies are also generating important jobs because that is also an important

Uh you know side to uh the entire relationship there are about 450,000 jobs that are generated by these companies in India and it’s really diverse in terms of sectors so of course while we have defense and Aerospace as a large chunk of uh the trade and investment relationship there are also

Many other sectors whether it’s you know infrastructure transport energy consumer goods it technology um so maybe I’ll stop there and and let you ask me your next question well uh interesting that you mentioned it that the the FDI is about $24 billion that’s what you said

Yes 25 so you know if you if you walked in the streets of uh uh any part of the country you know a metropolitan City and if you ask them what do you remind of when you say France I think you know besides of course the Rafal now people

Know about Rafal is the Eiffel uh which is mentioned and the other thing is wine so when you say uh 24 billion FDI into India and about 700 French companies operating here if you could tell our viewers what are the main companies uh French companies operating in India I

Mean like I said it’s really across sector so of course you know if you look at on the energy side we have companies like total energy we have EDF uh you know uh infrastr structure in smart cities we have companies like violia in the water sector we have Edis in uh you

Know um Engineering Services on the it side we have companies like capg in fact capj is the largest employer in India they have they’re generating about 180,000 jobs um consumer goods companies like L’Oreal uh companies like pero Ricard and wine and spirits of course Automotive with companies like Renault

And stellantis so the list is really quite long and what we see is it’s not only just the large groups there are also more and more um smmes and midsized companies that are also actively looking at India in fact we’ve had some uh interesting Acquisitions as well by

Midsized companies because it’s also an interesting way to kind of penetrate uh the Indian market now generally speaking what we’ve seen in terms of Trends also is that India Today represents a key priority Market because of course uh you know the economic growth rate uh given the large domestic consumption um these

Companies are now more and more willing to also uh you know see how they can make in India and contribute to India’s manufacturing footprint of course with the government uh policies that have come out over the past couple of years so I think this is really what we’re see

Seeing more and more of and what’s also interesting is postco now of course covid is well behind us but we were talking a lot about the China plus one strategy and and how are companies how is India attracting more uh make in India and we do see a lot of ground

Reality of how uh things are transforming and there is also a new supply chain that is developing in the country and India is also becoming home to Global exports for a lot of these companies for example alstor as you would know is involved in a lot of Metro

Projects and they have been uh exporting you know um out from making in IND and then exporting to the world same goes for companies like L’Oreal well that’s interesting that you’re mentioning that the French companies are not only coming and selling stuff here but they actually selling stuff to the world

Right so you know while of course there has been an aex in in terms of uh trade between the uh two countries since 2013 uh there is still no FDA right of course France is part of the EU so you can’t have a FDA specifically with uh

France but with the European Union what is the status of the FDA negotiations yeah so I mean like you rightly said uh their negotiations have uh restarted um there have been a few rounds of negotiations in fact the the chief negotiator was in India last week uh

There was a meeting that was organized so um negotiations are going on and uh things are looking positive I would say the main aspect is really I mean if we look at just at trade between India and France we’re looking at a bilateral trade of about 15 billion EUR now the

Objective that was set between uh Prime Minister Modi and president macron back in 2018 was to achieve 15 billion by 2025 so this was actually achieved uh three years before you know before time uh which is which is obviously good but I mean there’s much more scope on the

Trade side now of course India and the EU are negotiating um and I would say that maybe there are three or four main aspects number one is to work towards uh um you know reducing tariff barriers regulatory barriers to enable Market access uh the second is investment protection uh the third is geographical

Indications and in fact ify as one of the key bilateral Chambers of Commerce in India we are a part of a task force um wherein we actually we’ve come together with all of the other uh bilateral Chambers with the support of the EU delegation in India and we are

Soon going to be launching uh the first ever European chamber in India it’s going to be called febi and one of the main uh you know objectives of this organization of fees which is the Federation of European business in India is going to be uh to drive policy advocacy dialogue for European

Businesses in India with the government authorities well that’s good news that the there’s a there’s a uh European Union uh you know policy Group which is uh policy advocacy Group which is coming up and that brings me to my next question you know for example uh you know the French companies are now

Investing in India they’re setting up shops you said that they’re acquiring Indian companies also the msmes and the in the msme and the sector but in you know you interact with all these French companies in your sense what is the roadblocks that they face uh when it

Comes to investment in India and what do you think anyways so I’ll ask the second part later but what do you think are the roadblocks see I mean naturally you know India is obviously a huge Market I mean we say India is one India of many indias

Because of I mean we have you know we have many states we have of course a central government we have state governments it’s it’s a country which which you need to understand and which you need to know how to navigate so of course we provide a lot of support to

Companies on the ground in terms of handholding in terms of you know making them understand market dynamics uh you know making them meet potential Partners etc etc key issues would say mainly I mean there are obviously issues on the regulatory side but uh we’ve always had very positive and open conversations

With the government authorities I must say I mean you know every year we organize what we call these investment conclaves so we have a dialogue with state governments and we bring potential investors uh to the table and I can say that maybe 95% of these issues are generally always resolved I mean really

Without any hiccup so in that sense it’s a quite a positive uh relationship and dialogue that we have and um there are always issues like you know in in any country uh a lot of you know um a lot of perception you know when when we talk

About India and especially when I go to France you know I’ll get a lot of Oh India is so complicated we say India is not complicated it’s complex but you just need to understand the country in the right way so um yeah I mean of course these issues are across the board

Whether it’s on taxation whether it’s on you know sometimes land access whether it’s in terms of talent whether it’s in terms of uh dealing with local authorities but I would generally I mean overall I would say that it’s quite a positive outcome well that’s good to know and I I

Like the way that you described it that India is not complicated but complex um I think they you know having dealt with the defense department for so long I think that’s where the complication comes comes in but uh you know pile if you uh if if there’s a way

To make it much easier not just for the French companies but for the global companies to come and set shop in India and that is something that the uh the current Narendra Modi government is focusing on what would be your suggestions what can be done I mean you

Know okay so on one side I feel already a lot has been done I mean since this government has been in power it’s been now what it’s been 7 years right 2004 14 or nine years right so I would say that I mean right from the start there were

So many policies that introduced there was a single window system there was easing up you know the time that is required to set up a legal entity in India uh like I said the single window process approvals and permits I think on the compliance and Regulatory side a lot

Of aspects have become way more easier and of course I mean the government is pushing for more investment you know to come into the country um we we saw also you know and this year’s budget is also hopefully going to be interesting we’ll see what’s announced but I think that

Generally speaking even when you um are not in India I think today no one can ignore uh the country and and and you know the kind of potential that India represents to one’s business in fact we’ve seen a lot of new businesses um uh either keenly look at how to looking at

How to enter India I mean just last year in fact just in the month of November we organized a huge sort of a conference on the luxury sector now luxury in my opinion of course luxury is synonymous with France but in India it’s still it’s still nent but what we’re seeing now is

That since the past I think maybe 12 to 18 months something has sort of changed there’s more real estate you know uh opportunities of course we’ve seen what’s happened with Reliance in Mumbai and the whole development with the Geo World Plaza of course in North India as

Well the Boom in e-commerce so these opportunities are slowly coming in and and and this is being noticed also by Foreign companies and they want to come in and see how they can leverage this opportunity Ben you know uh that’s that’s one way of that’s good news that

Even the luxury companies are now focusing on uh leveraging the Indian market uh but you know as I said in the right in the very beginning you know when it comes to India and France defense plays a key role when you talk about the bilateral trade between the

Two countries defense forms a major chunk of it right uh be it and in the future also you have the deal for the 26 Rafal marines that would be in then you also have a deal for additional scorpion submarines that would be ined which will again you know increase the total number

Of uh the the volume of trade between the two countries but B if you leave out uh defense which are the other sectors according to you that has the potential to shape the future of the bilateral trade and investment between the two countries I mean I think on the goods and services

Side a lot of this is going to be dependent on how these negotiations shape up because that will open naturally that will open a lot of doors um but I mean I think a key priority also for the government in India and France is so there are two things one is

Of course how to boost on the investment side I’ve already spoken quite a bit that you know Investments are obviously uh you know very well spread out and growing I think there is a willingness and a focus on how to increase more French exports to India and how to

Increase more Indian investments into France So currently Indian companies in France we didn’t talk about this but we have about a 100 close to yeah so 170 Indian companies that have set up in France and I think that there’s a clear willingness also of the French

Government and that is going to be one of the focus areas of the the president the French President uh because during the progam I mean during his stay he is going to be meeting also with top Indian industrialists but it’s to see how and France is positioning itself as a

Gateway to Europe um of course following brexit there have been a lot of reforms also taken by the French government to uh to attract foreign players to set shop in um in France and you know I mean today we do see again a lot of interesting uh you know like for example

Mother Sun is is one of the top Employers in France we have Electro steel we have orindo farma we have all of the main it companies htcs infosis whpr Pro biocon recently made an acquisition uh last year so I think that is really a key Focus point but coming

Back to your question I think on the uh trade side it’s really going to also be largely impacted by the the FDA okay so the FDA and by when do you think the FDA can be done let’s see I mean I’m no uh expert but uh I know that

I mean the fact that the conversation there was there was no dialogue for I think the past couple of years it was around nine years that there was no uh negotiation and now it’s resumed we are hoping that something positive will come hopefully this year or in the next 12

Months well God willingly that’s something that both countries would be looking forward to but thank you so much uh pile for speaking to the print and bringing to our audience the perspective of the economic and the trade ties between the two countries and the future

Of it thank you so much P thank you so much thank You