SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SHRIMATI PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL AT THE BUSINESS MEETING

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 29th July 2011

I am delighted by this opportunity to interact with the representatives of business and industry of India and Mongolia during my visit to this enchanting land, the land of the 'blue skies'.

Although this is my first visit to Mongolia, I feel very much at home amongst the friendly people of this country. Our relationship is unique and special. The friendship between our countries percolates down, operating and resonating at the level of our people. India and Mongolia have interacted since antiquity through the vehicle of Buddhism traversing the Great Silk Route, which connected India with Mongolia for centuries. It brought together our traders, artists, musicians and artisans. Our centuries' old contact and inter-exchange of ideas, people, and goods have imparted a timeless dimension to our relations. In the more contemporary times, we have sought to build on these bonds. Our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was never hesitant in championing the cause of Mongolia. India is proud to have supported the membership of Mongolia to the United Nations in 1961. As we forge ahead, this enduring legacy provides us with a solid foundation for economic, scientific and technological cooperation between our two countries.

During the visit of President Elbegdorj to India in September 2009, our bilateral relations were elevated to a "Comprehensive Partnership". My visit, while continuing the process of high level contacts and exchange of views, seeks to further reinforce our ties in mutually beneficial fields. Economic and commercial ties are a major driver of any partnership between nations. I would even go to the extent of saying that economics are the bricks and mortar of any enduring political relationship. I am confident that today's event will be a forerunner of a greatly strengthened business relationship between India and Mongolia. I am convinced that there exist many opportunities for co-operation in the economic and commercial fields, and with enterprise and innovation we can construct a new Silk Route to weave together our economic destinies.

Over the last few days, I have had the opportunity to discuss various issues of bilateral and regional importance with the leadership of Mongolia. We have shared values of democracy, human dignity and economic freedom. Our goal is to further strengthen our deep and enduring friendship, on the basis of our shared values. Our ties are acquiring multi-dimensionality but there is still some way to go before we can have strong economic pillars to our ties. In this context, you as representatives of business and industry, have the role, responsibility and capacities to find complementarities between our two economies, and increase the space for business and trade, so that the close relationship between our countries is translated into economic opportunity and prosperity, for our peoples.

As a close friend of Mongolia, we in India are deeply impressed with its commitment to democracy and the strides made in the development of its people. We, in India, are conscious that Mongolia is an economy on the march, and therein manifests opportunity for cooperation and collaboration with India. The mining boom that Mongolia is presently experiencing, is predicted to make Mongolia's economy the fastest growing in the world by 2013. The World Bank's annual GDP growth rate projection for Mongolia in 2013 is 22.9 percent. Such predictions, indeed, are staggering and Indian business must take due notice. Mongolia's mineral wealth, including significant reserves of coal, copper, gold, and uranium, offers investment opportunities for Indian companies. We are impressed and applaud Mongolia's decision to put forth for development, the three major flagship mining projects namely the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold deposit, the Tavan Tolgoi coking coal deposit and the uranium deposit at Dornod. These projects are becoming important drivers of foreign direct investment into Mongolia, and will serve the purpose of meeting the growing demands of the world economy in general, and major Asian economies such as India in particular. Implementation of these projects will generate significant demand for construction and mining equipment, as well as in such areas as power generation, water supply, and rail transport. I would recommend the Indian business delegation to look closely at these opportunities.

The global economy is at a stage of profound transformation. India is a part of the shifting global economic landscape, and its economic weight is set to increase in the years ahead. The Indian economy faced the global financial meltdown with alacrity and persisted with a high growth trajectory. Today, it is not only one of the major economies of the world, but it is also one of the fastest growing. We seek to achieve our goals of inclusive growth and nation building. We have in place an ambitious programme, for the expansion of our social and infrastructure sectors. All this offers many opportunities for other countries. I invite Mongolian entrepreneurs to join us in our socio-economic transformation as investors, financiers and traders, or to enter into joint ventures with Indian entrepreneurs to develop Mongolia's resources.

The Indian business delegation present here should, along with Mongolian industry, explore business opportunities and seek to establish contacts with commercial and industrial houses. I encourage greater and more frequent exchange of ideas and interaction between Chambers and business leaders of the two countries. This can be the only way to move ahead, to ensure that we understand and appreciate each other, in surmounting the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities.

I am confident that an accelerated development of economic and commercial ties will become the principal component of the India-Mongolia Comprehensive Partnership upon which we have embarked. There is considerable enthusiasm here. Indian business delegates would not have got all the answers for their questions. But it is only the beginning. You should keep up the efforts continuously. The Mongolian Government is quite positive and responsive. So you should take follow-up actions. This will not only develop and strengthen the strong and enduring areas of partnership, but will also enhance and promote the socio-economic advancement of our peoples.

I wish your deliberations success.

Thank you.