Economic Affairs

E-mail:    nde-ea@minbuza.nl
Tel No.:  +91 11 24197600
Fax No.: +91 11 24197709

India is a promising country with excellent opportunities for the Dutch Industry. Currently India is the fourth largest economy (after the US, China and Japan) and India continous to have high economic growth levels (on average above 6% per annum).
The succes of the Indian IT-sector is widely known, but India offers more than just software experts in Bangalore. In addition to the IT-sector India is strong in medical biotechnology and pharmacy.

The Netherlands, with its 400-year long history of trade with India, is among the leading investors in the country, and in 2006 has also become the largest recipient of Indian overseas investment.

India Netherlands Trade and Investment Trends

According to a Goldman Sachs study, four countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China (identified as BRIC countries) will be among the fastest growing economies over the next 50 years. And, India will be the third largest economy in the world by 2040.

India is among the fastest-growing economies in the world, fuelled by growth in all sectors, particularly its globally competitive knowledge-based sectors, a growing consumption of goods and services by its 300 million strong middle class population, major investments in infrastructure creation, and an increasingly open business environment with opportunities for domestic as well as international players. 

The Netherlands, with its 400-year long history of trade with India, is among the leading investors in the country, and 2006, has also become the largest recipient of Indian overseas investment.

a).    India’s Trade with Netherlands(2002-03 TO 2006-07)

Year	Exports to Netherlands US$ Mn	% of Total Exports	Import from Netherlands US$ Mn	% of Total Imports	Two-way trade US$ Mn	Growth
2002-03	1049.71	1.98%	385.74	0.63%	1435.45	-
2003-04	1289.12	2.0%	535.56	0.68%	1824.68	27.1%
2004-05	1604.80	1.97%	791.46	0.70%	2396.26	31.3%
2005-06	2474.24	2.4%	1049.01	0.70%	3523.25	47.0%
2006-07 (April-Sept)	1175.41	1.92%	512.35	0.58%	707.05	-

b). Investment

 Foreign Direct Investment Inflows by Country (Aug 1991 to March 2007)

Rank	Country	FDI US $ Million	% of total inflow
1	Mauritius	18147	41.24%
2	United States	5894	12.78%
3	United Kingdom	3857	8.68%
4	Netherlands	2638	5.94%
5	Japan	2209	4.85%
6	Germany	1702	3.68%
7	Singapore	1628	3.67%
8	France	895	1.98%
9	South Korea	823	1.68%
10	Switzerland	692	1.50%

Source: Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion,

Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India