Trade: Commerce Secretary visits The Hague, India and Netherlands discuss ways to increase trade and investment
New Delhi| India and Netherlands discussed ways to enhance trade and investment relations. The discussion took place during the visit of Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal to The Hague. His visit is special because despite global economic instability, India’s exports to the Netherlands are increasing.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal and India’s Ambassador met Director of Foreign Economic Relations Mishiel Swiers in The Hague and discussed strengthening bilateral trade and economic ties, the Commerce Ministry said in a post on ‘X’. In this meeting, furthering strategic economic cooperation through Joint Trade and Investment Committee (JTIC) was discussed.
India’s exports with the Netherlands increased by 1.75 per cent to 22.76 billion dolls in FY 2024-25. In 2023-24, it was $22.36 billion. During this period imports remained more than five billion dollars.
Saket Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, also met senior officials of the Netherlands in The Hague and discussed enhancing cooperation in the startup and innovation ecosystem. The ministry said that entrepreneurship, technological exchange, space cooperation and promoting startup partnership between the two countries were discussed in the meeting.
Barthwal also visited Jangreb, Croatia, and met Jdenko Lusich, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and Disorders. In this meeting, further strengthening of bilateral trade relations and exploring investment opportunities were discussed. India’s exports with Croatia stood at $270 million in 2024-25 (April – January), while imports stood at $69.49 million.
