New Delhi: India Thursday invited German companies to invest in the shipping sector with the country emerging as a logistics hub and cruise destination.
Expressing hope that 100 percent FDI in the shipping sector would facilitate German companies to invest in maritime sector, Shipping Minister G K Vasan told a high-level German delegation here that it would be mutually beneficial for both the nations.
The delegation led by Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Hans-Joachim Otto called on Vasan Thursday.
Germany has expertise in ship building which could be utilised in India through mutual cooperation, Otto was quoted as saying by an official release. He also requested for India's cooperation in combating piracy.
India is having an ambitious Maritime Agenda 2010-2020 and Germany is manufacturing ship engines and spares which can be best utilised by the Cochin Shipyard and other Indian shipyards, the delegation noted.
Shipping Secretary P K Sinha said that an agreement between India and Germany on Maritime Transport Relations signed in 1966 was still in force and could be updated by extending the possible areas of cooperation in order to meet the present needs of both the countries in the maritime sector.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, January 10, 2013, 20:55