Pharmaceuticals and healthcare will be among the five sectors that will be the focus of Confederation of Indian Industry's first ever CEO's mission to Philippines from 4th - 7th March 2003. The CII mission, which is being led by President, Ashok Soota, promises to cover unprecedented grounds comprises of key representatives from five sectors - including IT, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, business process outsourcing, agriculture and banking.
The mission comes to acquire great significance in light of the fact that Philippines is being greatly viewed as an upcoming business destination in Asia and is bound to gain a key position over the next few years.
As part of CII's policy of recognising business opportunities and formulating strategic initiatives to develop them further, the delegation is focussed on a few key sectors. The delegation consists of Sanjeev Aggarwal, CEO, Daksh services, Tapas Bhattacharya, Acting Country Head, Biostadt Agrisciences, Sundeep Khatri, Country Manager, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Juzar Khorakiwala, Executive Director, Wockhardt Ltd, Mohan Phadke, Vice President, Ballarpur Industries, S Sangameswar Rao, Regional Representative, SBI, M Selvakumar, Regional Representative, New India Assurance, A M Sonmale, Chief General Manager, EXIM Bank and N Srinivasan, Deputy Director General, CII.
The delegation is slated to meet with major industry and government representatives in Philippines and plans to establish ties with the Asian Institute of Management and renew ties with the Asian Development Bank. Also, on the agenda are interaction sessions with the key industrial and business representatives of Philippines. The mission is also meeting the former President of Philippines, Fidel V Ramos, to discuss crucial geo-political issues. The delegation members will also participate in a session of Philippines-India Business Forum, which is an international platform to bring the industry representatives from two nations together.
India and Philippines have shared cordial bilateral relationship, ever since diplomatic ties were established in 1949. The two nations have coordinated their positions on various national and international forums and are striving to strengthen trade and economic ties. Bilateral trade between India and Philippines stands well below potential and Indian exports to the Philippines is only 0.8 per cent of the total Philippines' imports. The trade relations suffered a setback during the Asian financial crisis. However, the renewed developments in telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and Information Technology have provided an impetus to bilateral economic relations.
The CII mission to Philippines is aimed at consolidating the presence of Indian industry in Philippines and has been extended full support from the Government of Philippines and the Government of India and the business groups in Philippines. The current bilateral trade 2001-02,between Phillipines is Rs 1614.45 crore up from Rs 1206.82 crore last year (2000-01). Indian exports to Phillipines last year amounted to Rs.1178.88 crore and imports were Rs.435.57 crore.