India-Greece Bilateral Trade and Investment

India and Greece are strengthening their bilateral ties following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Greece (August 2023), the first by an Indian Prime Minister since 1983. This was followed by the Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visiting India from February 21-22, 2024.

Despite long gaps in high-level contact, both countries  established a “Strategic Partnership” and initiated dialogues between their National Security Advisers. Greece’s location serves as a gateway to Europe, making it a valuable partner in India’s outreach to Europe and the Mediterranean. At the same time, Greece sees India as an emerging global power in South Asia.

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India and Greece plan to sign a Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement to boost skilled migration, as discussed during Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to India. Mitsotakis and Modi underlined the importance of increased collaboration in defense, security, education, trade, investment, and tourism. The goal is to quadruple bilateral trade by 2030 from around US$2 billion in 2022-23. The two countries are also in agreement on resolving problems through diplomacy, and they addressed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which Greece sees as a crucial player in increasing connectivity between these regions. Mitsotakis has spoken of the IMEC’s ability to promote peace and stability in the Middle East, despite regional concerns.

India-Greece bilateral trade

Trade between India and Greece was estimated at US$1.9 billion in 2022-23.

In June 2024, India’s trade with Greece resulted in a positive balance of US$67.3 million, with exports totaling US$77.1 million and imports at US$9.79 million. Compared to June 2023, India’s exports to Greece rose by US$16 million, while imports significantly decreased by US$ 94.3 million. The increase in exports was driven by products like unmanufactured tobacco, ceramics, and organic chemicals. The drop in imports from Greece was mainly due to decreased imports of other commodities, iron and steel, and aluminum products.

Previously, a surge in imports meant that the trade balance turned negative at (-) US$372 million in 2022-23, down from a positive balance at US$777 million in 2021-22.

Top traded items

 Source: Trading Economics

Source: Trading Economics

India and Greece have complementary trade patterns. India primarily exports aluminum products, organic chemicals, electrical machinery, fish, iron and steel, apparel, plastics, paper, textiles, and spices to Greece. In contrast, Greece’s main exports to India include mineral fuels, aluminum, wood pulp, edible fruits, iron and steel, copper, salt, chemicals, cotton, and organic chemicals.

Future prospects

The Indian market is drawing interest among Greek companies, with plans to export products like olive oil, olives, wine, cheese, and construction materials to India. Indian conglomerates are also investing in Greece, likely boosting future trade.

The trade outlook is positive, with expected growth driven by stronger supply chains and enhanced bilateral economic relations. The trade is projected to double every five years, supported by increasing people-to-people connections and deepening economic ties.

Source: Trading Economics

Source: Trading Economics

India-Greece investment flows

Both India and Greece recognize the strategic importance of their geographical locations and are motivated to enhance their bilateral ties for security and stability in their regions.

The Greek government’s economic reforms and Greece’s role as a key EU and NATO member further emphasize the importance of this relationship. The proposed IMEEC and the EU-India bilateral trade agreement (BTIA) are expected to boost economic ties.

From April 2000 to March 2023, cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) from Greece to India totaled US$9.35 million. The largest Indian investment in Greece is a joint venture between GMR Airports and GEK-Terna for a EUR 850 million construction project at Kasteli on the island of Crete. Additionally, several smaller Indian companies operate in Greece across sectors such as travel, hospitality, and retail.

Bilateral agreements between Greece and India

• Agreement on Cultural Exchange (1961)
• Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation (1967)
• Agreement for Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation (1983)
• Agreement on Tourism Cooperation (1998)
• MOU on Defense Cooperation (1998)
• MOU for Cooperation in Agriculture (2001)
• Agreement on Cooperation in Science & Technology (2007)
• Air Services Agreement (2017)
• Agreement of Cooperation between the Hellenic Foreign Trade Board and India Trade Promotion Organization (1996)
• MOU on Cooperation in New and Renewable Energy (2017)
• MOU on Standardization (2018)

Scope for investments in India

• Agriculture: Cooperation prospects in agritech, crop diversification, soil and water conservation, climate change, natural farming and biofortified crops, food production, smart irrigation, cold chain infrastructure, agriculture research public-private-partnerships.
• Shipping: India is the 16th largest maritime country in the world and allows 100 percent FDI. Cooperation prospects in ship design ship production, ship breaking, automation, environmentally friendly technologies, training and human resource development, innovation, technology, and knowledge sharing.
• Skill development and mobility: Cooperation on digital apprenticeships, joint partnerships in creating training infrastructure, skills and language training programs, short-term mobility to Greece.
• Defense and aerospace: India has a US$11.3 billion defense market and is the third largest military spender in the work. The Indian government wants to achieve a US$25 billion turnover by 2025, including US$5 billion in exports of aerospace and defense goods and services. Areas of cooperation include defense industrial cooperation, with a focus on ‘Make in India’, maritime cooperation, co-development or licensed production of aero-platforms and systems (avionics, aircraft manufacture, radar equipment), advanced ship-building technologies, and submarines, advanced defense systems with digital innovations such as focus on big data, artificial intelligence and cyber security, modernization of existing shipyards and defense platforms through technology infusion.
• Infrastructure: Cooperation areas include smart cities, industrial corridors, and transport and logistics.
• Renewable energy: India is the world’s fourth-largest producer of renewable energy and solar power but is yet to meet high production capacity target of 500GW by 2030. Cooperation areas include solar PVs, equipment manufacturing, biomass energy, energy storage, smart grids, skill development, and energy management systems.
• Auto manufacturing: India is the world’s third largest automobile market and wants to achieve 30 percent electrification by 2030. Cooperation areas include auto components, batteries and EV parts, battery energy storage systems, charging stations.
• Pharmaceuticals: India is the largest manufacturer and exporter of generic medicines, serving domestic and 200 countries. Cooperation areas include production of generic medicines, vaccine production, R&D, merger and acquisitions, and API leveraging Indian facilities in Europe.
• Electronics: India is pushing for the diversification and expansion of its rapidly growing electronics manufacturing through targeted incentives. Cooperation areas include export-oriented manufacturing, R&D, new product development, skill development and training.
• Services: Under the IT/BPM industry, cooperation areas include AI, software development, cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud computing, etc. Under tourism, cooperation areas include hotel development, travel services, destination management, heritage conservation, wellness tourism, and shopping tourism. Under retail and e-commerce, cooperation areas include cross-border e-commerce, retail partnerships, and market entry support.

Greek companies in India

India’s progressive FDI policies and business-friendly environment have made it a top global investment destination. Greek companies already have a notable presence in India, and there are substantial opportunities across various sectors. By increasing investments in India, Greece stands to gain significant benefits.

Here’s a list of Greek companies in India:

• Adventus Laboratories (India) Pvt. Ltd Pharmathen S.A
• Alumil India Pvt Ltd
• AMD Telecom Pvt Ltd AMD Telecom SA
• Arkay Glencork pvt ltd The Pisani Group
• Chipita India Pvt Ltd Chipita SA
• Danaos Software Services Pvt Ltd Danaos SA
• Eurocert India Eurocert SA
• Frigoglass India Pvt. Ltd. Frigoglass SA
• HT Mobile Solutions Ltd, Veltis Greek Shareholders
• Indigreek Consulting Indigreek Consulting
• Intracom Sitronics Pvt. Ltd. Intrakom SA
• Kooud Software Pvt Ltd European Dynamics Ltd
• Maillis Strong Strap Pvt. Ltd. M.J.Maillis SA
• ML Group of Companies Leaf Tobacco A.Mchailides SA
• Pyramis Marketing India Pvt. Ltd. Pyramis SA
• Savitar Sol Energy Efficiency Systems Pvt. Ltd. SOL Energy Hellas SA
• Stollberg India Pvt. Ltd. S&B Industrial Minerals SA/ S&B Holdings
• Topos Trading Topos Trading
• Torux Software Pvt Ltd Torux Software Pvt Ltd
• Velti Services India Pvt Ltd. Veltis Greek Shareholders

Indian companies in Greece

In Greece, there are numerous Indian businesses, including restaurants, mini markets, and travel agencies, operating in cities like Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. The Greek Indian Business Association (GIBA) was founded in Athens in June 2019 to foster business connections. Key corporate members of GIBA include:

• Sandal-200: A travel and recruitment agency
• Amilcal-logo-600: A consulting firm specializing in trading, events, and investment
• God-bless-films-800: A film production company active in India and Europe
• Bp-vagias-olives-oil: An exporter of table olives and extra virgin olive oil
• Bp-Gerovassiliou-wines: An exporter of wine from the Macedonia region
• Genelabs-lg-220×130: A company focused on health sector synergies
• Mavid: A company in the Macedonian meat industry

Outlook

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India and Greece are enhancing their bilateral relations through high-level engagements and agreements. Both countries aim to solidify a strategic partnership that leverages their geographic and economic strengths. The focus is on increasing bilateral trade, improving defense and security cooperation, and expanding economic ties through initiatives like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

Despite positive developments, there is significant room for improvement, in the following areas:

1. Trade balance management: Addressing trade imbalances and boosting trade flows by diversifying the range of exports and imports between the two countries.
2. Investment expansion: While Greek investment in India is growing, there is potential to increase this further. Greek companies can explore more sector opportunities within India beyond the existing investments in travel, hospitality, and retail. This is more so as India is aggressively pushing via incentives and preferential schemes to modernize its industries, promote tech-enabled and R&D across agriculture, food production, and manufacturing, build and scale industrial corridors, advance shipping and defense infrastructure and equipment manufacturing, skill development, and seek more collaboration across high performing services industries.
3. Leveraging existing agreements by actively implementing and updating them to reflect current economic and geopolitical realities. Strengthening bilateral agreements in emerging sectors like renewable energy and technology can provide mutual benefits.
4. Strategic initiatives: Supporting the IMEC to enhance connectivity and promote peace and stability in the region. Both countries should work closely on this initiative to ensure its successful implementation and alignment with their strategic goals.

By focusing on these areas, India and Greece can deepen their strategic partnership, enhance bilateral trade and investment, and better realize the potential of their growing economic and cultural ties.

(With inputs from Melissa Cyrill.)

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