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Indlaw News- 14/01/2010 : Luxembourg, Pharma offers trade opportunities to Indian companies

Luxembourg, Pharma offers trade opportunities to Indian companies
1/14/2010

Luxembourg offers a wide range of assets and opportunities for doing business in Europe for Indian companies active in the pharmaceutical industry and IT business, Luxembourg Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Jeannot Krecke has said.
Leading a trade delegation to the city from January 8-14, Mr Krecke said here last night, ‘India has a large and fast growing pharmaceutical industry producing a wide range of medical products ranging from generic drugs to medical disposals.’ He informed that numerous Indian pharmaceutical producers such as Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy had already decided to tap the European market by either increasing their exports or establishing facilities.
‘With its 500 million inhabitants and its health consciousness, the European market still offers huge growth opportunities for Indian pharmaceutical companies,’ Mr Krecke observed.
Referring to the IT business Mr Krecke said, ‘Luxembourg has invested heavily and created one of the most advanced IT infrastructures and also welcomes IT specialists from around the globe.’ He said Indian companies like TCS and Wipro have already established offices in Luxembourg.
Mr Krecke maintained that while these companies have already reaped some benefits from their presence in Luxembourg, plenty of room was still available for engineers, SMEs looking to get a foothold in the European market.
The Luxembourg minister informed that the bilateral trade had tripled between 2002-2007, reaching a peak of 50 million euros and the momentum was still being witnessed.
He said several Luxembourg companies have already started operating in diverse fields in India as steel, engineering, appliances, air cargo, IT and consultancy.
‘On the other hand, I am very pleased that an ever-growing number of Indian companies discover Luxembourg as an ideal location to establish permanent base,’ Mr Krecke said.
He also informed that a bilateral agreement to avoid double taxation has been adopted which would come to force shortly.
He opined that the agreement would boost the bilateral trade and stimulate the flow of capital, technology and personnel from India to Luxembourg and vice versa.
UNI