CHENNAI: A delegation of Ambassadors from the European Union on Monday called on Chief Minister O Panneerselvam at the Secretariat and discussed the potential for cooperation in traditional areas like engineering and agro-processing and in emerging areas like information technology, biotechnology and renewable energy.
During the discussions, EU Ambassador to India Joao Cravinho said the European Investment Bank was now authorised to work in India and would be interested in lending, particularly for green infrastructure projects including renewable energy and smart grids. The EU Ambassadors were also very enthusiastic about the Global Investors’ Meet of the Tamil Nadu government scheduled for May 2015 as an opportunity for many European businesses to invest further in Tamil Nadu.
The EU Ambassador mentioned that the main purpose of the visit to Tamil Nadu was to understand the tremendous diversity of India and Tamil Nadu in particular since it was an important State both in terms of size of population and the economy.
He highlighted that the EU was the largest trading partner for India and the largest source of investment. The discussions centered on the kind of Central Government support available for Tamil Nadu Vision 2023, the status of implementation of Goods and Services Tax and Tamil Nadu’s views on the matter, etc.
The Ambassador of European Union was accompanied by Miloslav Stasek, Ambassador Embassy of the Czech Republic, Jorge Roza de Oliveira, Ambassador Embassy of Portugal, Vijar Lubi, Ambassador Embassy of Republic of Estonia, Zigmund Bertok, Ambassador, Embassy of Slovak Republic, Petko Doykov, Ambassador, Embassy of Bulgaria, Tomasz Lukaszuk, Ambassador, Embassy of Republic of Poland, Sam, Schreiner, Ambassador, Embassy of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Aivars Groza, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Latvia among others.