The Netherlands was the 3rd largest FDI investor in India and India the fourth largest FDI investor in the Netherlands in 2019-20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a virtual summit with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte and held an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

This was the first high-level interaction between the two countries since the visit of the King and the Queen of the Netherlands in October 2019.

During the summit, both leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations in sectors like trade and investment, water management, agriculture, food processing, smart city, urban mobility, science and technology, public health and space.

On trade and investment front, the two leaders noted the success of the digital Trade Mission between India and the Netherlands that took place virtually from February 8 to 12, 2021. They welcomed the three specific domains of the trade mission: water management (water safety and security), food chains (solutions in food waste, horticulture, dairy and aqua culture) and sustainable energy (solar energy, hydrogen, biofuels and energy transition).

As per the joint statement issued after the summit, both Prime Ministers agreed that the ambitious and innovative flagship programs like Clean India, Digital India, Make in India, Sagarmala, ‘Ayushman Bharat’ (healthcare) or Startup India have provided immense opportunities for Indo-Dutch collaboration in multiple sectors.

The Indian side apprised the Dutch side of the recently launched Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes and invited increased investments by the Dutch companies in areas of medical devices, telecom and networking equipment, solar PV cells, food and textile products.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction that despite Covid19 related constraints, the investment flows between the two countries continued to rise making the Netherlands the 3rd largest FDI investor in India and India the fourth largest FDI investor in the Netherlands in the year 2019-20. They welcomed the joint announcement on setting up a bilateral Fast Track Mechanism for investment facilitation and issue resolution.

The Indian side also highlighted the role of Access India Initiative (AII) in facilitating investments from Dutch Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)/ family owned enterprises (FoEs) by providing necessary market entry support including investor facilitation and hand-holding services which are critical for successful entry to the Indian market.

They also acknowledged the progress made by the Start UP Link initiative (DPIIT, Invest India, Startup India and the Netherlands Embassy) and the intention to continue the successful collaboration including in medtech, agritech and cyber security as priority sectors.