Cabinet approves MoU between India and Croatia in the field of tourism

The MoU, signed on 16 March, during the visit of President of India to Croatia, will help the two parties in creating an institutional mechanism for enhancing cooperation in the tourism sector.

Addressing a joint forum of Croatian and Indian business associations, President Ram Nath Kovind said the potential to expand bilateral trade and investment and to establish innovation, research and start-up partnerships is immense. 

He also reminded of the rich trading past when over 1,000 Croatian traders settled in Goa carried out flourishing mercantile connect between Dubrovnik and Goa in the 16th century. 

The event was jointly organised by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

India, he said, may remain a land of culture and spiritualism in Croatia, but, beyond that there is the new economic energy, dynamism and vigour of a new India in the making. India today is the fastest growing major economy in the world with a growth of over 7 per cent. It is also the third largest economy in the world in purchasing power terms and the sixth largest in absolute terms. And it is poised to be a 5 trillion-dollar economy by 2025, he added. 

“You will find in India a transformed business climate today, a good measure of which is India’s extraordinary jump of 65 places during the last four years in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index. The introduction of the path-breaking Goods and Services Tax has transformed India, a country of 1.3 billion people, into `One Nation, One Tax, and One Market’ for the first time in her history.”

Also, he said, the government is working to tailor economic reforms to realise the full potential of the country and its mostly young population. And with the new spirit of enterprise, the start-up revolution and its software prowess India is all set for the new phase of next-generation industrial revolution.

“India is changing and changing fast. The international business community has given a vote of confidence to these changes with new investments. During our last financial year, we received $62 billion in foreign direct investment. Indian industry is also reaching out across the world, be it through trade, direct investments or joint collaborations. But numbers often don’t capture the enormous changes taking place or the dynamism that accompanies them. I invite you to come and experience for yourself what we are doing for ourselves and for the world.  We invite Croatia to partner with us and take advantage of the opportunities that India presents.”