Blitz Bureau
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for its efforts in creating stable conditions for small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in India. Addressing the Investment Forum in Moscow on December 4, Putin also highlighted India’s economic initiatives, particularly the Make in India initiative while drawing its similarities with Russia’s import substitution programme.
“Prime Minister Modi has a similar programme called Make in India. We are also ready to place our manufacturing site in India… The Prime Minister of India and the Government of India have been creating stable conditions and this is because the Indian leadership has been pursuing India comes first policy and we believe that investments in India are profitable,” the Russian President said.
Putin also emphasised the relevance of Russia’s import substitution programme in the context of BRICS’s shift for the growth of SMEs and the need for a fast dispute redressal forum for the comfortable dealing of SMEs in BRICS+ countries.
He noted the emergence of new Russian brands that are replacing Western brands that have exited the market and pointed out the success of local Russian manufacturers in sectors such as consumer goods, IT, high-tech, and agriculture.
“For us, it has special relevance as part of the import substitution programme, we advent of new Russian brands entering our market, which are replacing the brands by Western partners who have voluntarily left our market. And our local manufacturers have been quite successful not only in consumer goods but also in IT and high tech,” he said.
President Putin also urged for greater cooperation among BRICS nations to support the growth of SMEs and encouraged member countries to identify key areas for collaboration at the upcoming summit in Brazil next year. Referring to the investment platform Russia is developing with BRICS, President Putin said that it has the potential to benefit all partner countries and is expected to become an important instrument for supporting our economies and providing financial resources to the countries of the Global South and East.
“I urge my BRICS colleagues to evaluate the current situation in key areas of cooperation, and we will certainly bring this to the attention of our Brazilian counterparts, who will be leading BRICS next year,” he added.
