Iran to Participate in Indiachem-2002
Over 80 foreign companies from countries like Iran, Britain, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Singapore, South Africa, the UAE and the U.S. will be participating in the event through September 18-21.
It is being jointly organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and related industry associations, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) said on Friday.
"India can use its competitive cost advantage to attract foreign pharmaceutical companies to set up their research and development centers in India," said Vinay Kohli, secretary in the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, at a press conference here Thursday.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will inaugurate the conference, which will have Germany as the lead partner country.
"India has a lot to offer in the field of research. Germany sees a phase of rapid modernization happening in the Indian chemical industry and wants to participate in the process," said German Ambassador Heimo Richter.
The pharmaceutical industry in India is expected to be worth $25 billion in five years. Exports, with a 19 percent annual growth, are expected to reach Rs.250 billion by 2007, up from Rs.90 billion currently.
"In such a scenario, events like Indiachem-2002 can become the cutting edge of this exercise," said FICCI President R.S. Lodha.
Enthused by the response in 2000, the U.S. has returned as the "guest country" to the event, which will also feature a buyer-seller meet for delegates from the South Asian region and a health summit.
"Companies from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal will be benefited if they source their products from India because of the cost competitive edge we offer," said FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra.
The focus of the health summit would be an interactive platform with regulatory authorities of Latin American and Central Asian countries to discuss the easing of systems to enable Indian companies boost exports.