New Delhi: Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman held a series of high-level meetings in Munich on Sunday, engaging with global industry leaders and senior members of the German government to deepen economic and strategic cooperation.
Sitharaman met Keith Svendsen, Chief Executive Officer of APM Terminals, who highlighted Maersk’s long-standing association with India. Svendsen spoke about the company’s key investments and partnerships across India’s maritime ecosystem and conveyed its intention to further expand operations in the country.
During the interaction, Svendsen appreciated India’s reform initiatives over the years, particularly deregulation measures and efforts to improve the ease of doing business. He also referred to key announcements made in the recent Union Budget, including initiatives related to container manufacturing.
In a post on X, Sitharaman said: “The two also discussed the advantages of the recently concluded India-EU-FTA w.r.t. opening up Indian and European markets and potential benefits for businesses on both sides in the future.”
Earlier, Sitharaman met Lars Klingbeil, Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance of Germany. The two leaders discussed the January meeting in India between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which strengthened bilateral ties, particularly in defence, trade, and technology.
Klingbeil described the Free Trade Agreement as a significant step forward for trade and investment between the two countries. He also underlined the importance of bilateral development cooperation and referred to Germany’s engagement in metro rail expansion projects in India.
Sitharaman, in turn, briefed her German counterpart on the success of India’s digital payment systems and expressed India’s willingness to share best practices related to its digital public infrastructure with Germany.
The meetings underscored the growing momentum in India-Germany economic and strategic engagement across sectors.
