Highlighting significance of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s visit to Netherlands, industry body - FICCI’s Secretary General Anant Swarup has said that the visit could help translate investment discussions into specific projects by bringing together businesses and government agencies to address issues related to location, technology, infrastructure, suppliers and regulatory approvals. He added that the chamber would like to see progress on four key areas and that includes manufacturing partnerships, technology collaborations, supply chain integration, and follow-up of projects. FICCI has called for pipeline of joint ventures and capacity-expansion proposals in engineering, equipment, food processing and other technology-intensive industries. It also called for partnerships between businesses, research institutions and startups for joint product development, strengthening local engineering capabilities and commercial deployment of technologies.
On supply-chain integration, Swarup has stressed the need for supplier-development programmes to help Indian MSMEs meet Dutch companies' requirements on quality, traceability and sustainability. He suggested that the investment proposals should be identified with designated counterparts, clear milestones and a mechanism to resolve implementation issues to ensure that discussions translate into actual projects. He said the delegation's planned engagement at the Port of Rotterdam also provides an opportunity to explore cooperation in logistics and supply-chain connectivity. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, a member of the 27-nation European Union (EU) bloc, is India's fourth-largest source and the largest source within the EU for cumulative FDI equity inflows, with about $58.1 billion invested between April 2000 and June 2026. The bilateral merchandise trade stood at $23.3 billion in 2025-26.
Emphasizing importance of India-EU FTA, he has said that the FTA can help deepen this relationship by strengthening the commercial case for companies to manufacture, source and innovate across the two markets. He added that for Dutch manufacturers, this could support investment in Indian production facilities serving both domestic and export markets. From an industry perspective, he noted that greater policy predictability, continued simplification of regulatory processes and faster approvals would help enhance investor confidence.