Indian SMEs are soon to benefit from a technology collaboration with Germany. At a recent Indo-German meet in Berlin, Anand Sharma, the Union Minister of Commerce Industry and Textile said that SMEs form the backbone of the of Indian industry, employing 26 million people. The burgeoning segment contributes to 45% of the country’s manufacturing output and 40% of total exports. Therefore, the collaboration with Germany can be highly beneficial for this segment.

In the past 5 years, trade between the two nations doubled

The technological collaboration is expected to help SMEs in IT, pharma, automobile, manufacturing, textile and other sectors, according to Sharma.

Sharma revealed that India is currently having over 1600 Indo-German collaborations and 600 joint ventures. He gave the example of the BMW market in India, of how BMW has emerged as one of the largest selling luxury cars in India. According to him Indian corporate leaders across segments are showing an equal interest in investing in Germany, owing to the conducive business climate and culture in both the counties.

“Indian corporate entities invested over US$ 6 Billion in Germany. There are over 215 Indian companies – both large enterprises and SMEs – that have their active presence in Germany and employs over 24,000 people,” Sharma added.

Over the last five years, the trade between the two nations doubled, reaching close to US$ 23.64 billion and it is expected that the trade target of Euro 20 Billion will be surpassed by 2012. This is the ideal time for the technological tie up because 2012 has been touted as the ‘German Year in India’, which in itself is a success story. The program launched in September 2011, will continue till November 2012. “This year also marks the 60th Anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Germany,” said Sharma.