India very interesting market for us: German envoy Philipp Ackermann

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], July 8 : India's economic growth and its "interesting market" has opened up business opportunities for German companies, according to German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann.

Ackermann who was on a two-day maiden visit from Thursday, said that India has had very solid growth for years now and is among the very few countries that has sustainable growth.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Ackermann said, "India is a very interesting market for us. It's a big market. It's a growing market. India has a very solid growth for years now. We are very impressed with this growth."

"It's one of the very few countries in the world that has sustainable growth. And therefore, German businesses increasingly an opportunity also for further investment in India. Now, Germany is, by far, the biggest trading partner in Europe, with India. But, I think in the years to come, we will see much more investment in German business here," the German envoy said.

He said Germany is welcoming students from India and that a growing number of Indian students are arriving in the country. He said that at present there are 35,000 students in Germany and there are another 32,000 applications in the embassy.

"We have a growing number of students coming to Germany. We have now 35000. I have another 32000 applications on the table of the embassy. That's quite a lot actually, and we unfortunately, we need a little time to process applications. I know that some students might be a little frustrated that it doesn't go as quickly as they had expected, but I can tell you that In principle, Indian students are very, very welcome in Germany. German universities are very keen on having Indian students. They have very good reputation in Germany, and I just want, at that stage, maybe say, that one should be very careful before working together with agencies," Ackermann told ANI.

The German envoy advised students to do verification of their documents on their own. He said that 70 per cent of the Indian students arrive in Germany to pursue Masters programmes since they are taught in English.

Ackermann said that he can assure that Indians would find a job very quickly in Germany as once a student graduates in Germany, he or she has 12 months in the country to find a job

Speaking about his visit to Chandigarh, Ackermann said that the two days were filled with meetings and appointments.

"I'm concluding now a two-day visit to Chandigarh, two days full of meetings, full of appointments. The centre of the visit was, of course, the meeting with the two chief ministers from Punjab, Haryana and the two governors," Ackermann said.

On Thursday, Philipp Ackermann met Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and discussed many important issues. He tweeted, "Today Chandigarh met the German Ambassador to India @AmbAckermann at his residence and discussed many important issues... Talked about the investment being made by German companies in Punjab and also discussed important ideas about the education sector...especially the emphasis on imparting skills to the youth."

The German Ambassador said in Chandigarh, he spoke with the Chief Justice, visited the assembly and spoke with the two Speakers, the Haryana Speaker and the Punjab Speaker, the chief minister and then he visited the Indian School of Business. He concluded his trip with a visit to the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi.

He called his visit to Chandigarh a "very packed and interesting visit." He noted that Germany has a long tradition with Haryana and Punjab and has a lot of business in the two states.

"It was a very, very packed, interesting visit. Chandigarh is a wonderful place. It's green. It's orderly. I think everybody loves Chandigarh anyway. And Germany has a long tradition with these two states, Haryana, and Punjab.

"We have a lot of business here. We have a lot of interesting modern business here. And we have a growing Punjabi community also in Germany. So there's a lot to discuss with the dignitaries here and the political deciders and the political layer of Punjab and Haryana. So, for me, it was a wonderful experience. It was a great two days actually," Ackermann said.

Speaking about Germany's business in Punjab and Haryana, Philipp Ackermann said that they try to invest here in renewables. He also spoke about the German company Verbio which has set up a plant in Punjab.

"We have what we do is actually we try to invest here in renewables, in trying to do more sustainability and in the development and one big company here from Germany, Verbio has a plant in Punjab not far from here where they transform stubble rice, paddy stubble, to compress biogas CBG in order to fuel cars and that's a good start. A company that does a great business, and they want to even set up shop more in this region. So, I think that's a good example on how, you know, sustainable, also the private sector of Germany is," Ackermann said.

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