Accompanied by senior representatives of companies, institutions and SMEs in the engineering and allied areas, the Indian delegation was led by Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry, Girish Shankar. India's Ambassador to Czech Republic Krishan Kumar was also present.

From the Czech Republic side, heavy duty trucks makers TATRA, ZLK, Bonotrans, T Machinery and SZU Engineering and Test Institute also made their presentations about stepping up their Indian engagement.

"While we seek technology transfer from the eastern Europe, the Indian engineering industry which is upgrading fast on the high tech value chain, has positioned itself well in the Czech Republic. This is evident from the trade figures. Of the total Indian exports to Czech Republic of US$ 523 million, the engineering accounted for US$ 413 million, "said Shankar after the meeting of JWG.

He said India is actively seeking foreign direct investment in the engineering and high technology including defence. The government led by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has liberalized the FDI policies and procedures, assuring the global investors the maximum ease of doing business.

Initiatives like hike in the FDI limit, integrating India into a single market through the tax reforms through legislations like Goods and Services Tax, have enhanced the confidence of global investors into the Indian economy, which has emerged as the fastest growing in the world.

In his presentation, Chairman of the EEPC Chairman Mr T S Bhasin said while the Indian engineering industry has come a long way in moving up the value chain, a lot more is required. "Indian firms, even in the small and medium scale want to adapt to the state of the art technology to stay competitive in the global market".

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