Business mission to India

The SARIO agency, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Delhi, organized a business mission to India (Delhi and Kolkata) on March 16-21, 2025. The mission accompanied a state delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Juraj Blanár, who was accompanied by the Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic Ladislav Kamenický and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic Rastislav Chovanec. The Minister Juraj Blanár spoke at the multilateral conference on geopolitics Raisina Dialogue and opened the Honorary Consulate of the Slovak Republic in Kolkata.
 

The business delegation consisted of 32 participants representing 24 business entities from the sectors of construction, engineering, information and communication technologies, food and other industries. Several opportunities were prepared for the participants to hold B2B meetings with Indian companies. On the first day, all Slovak entities presented themselves to the ministers at the Slovak Embassy in Delhi and subsequently participated in the CII India Europe Business Exchange event, where the first B2B meetings also took place. On this occasion, the CEO of SARIO, Robert Šimončič, signed a memorandum of cooperation between Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) during a special program called the Slovak Country Session held during the CII event.

The following day, the ministers officially opened another series of events, Slovak Technologies and Innovation Day 2025, at the premises of the Slovak Embassy in Delhi. In addition to the accompanying workshop on entrepreneurship and establishing themselves on the Indian market, entrepreneurs had the opportunity to attend B2B meetings with more than 80 Indian companies, whose participation was institutionally ensured by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Also on this occasion, the SARIO agency concluded a memorandum with its local partner FICCI, signed at the level of the general directors of both agencies. Three Slovak companies also concluded memorandums of cooperation with Indian partners.

The last day in Delhi brought the opportunity for representatives of Slovak business to participate in the 10th annual Smart Cities India Expo at the Pragati Maidan exhibition center. The fair is known in India as the most important venue for discussions, panels and exhibitions of the latest technological trends and internationally operating companies in thematic areas such as information and communication technologies, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics and automation, electronics and others.
 

The conclusion of the working trip to India was the historically first annual Slovak-Indian Business Forum, which was attended by more than 100 Slovak and Indian businessmen in Kolkata. Minister Juraj Blanár also officially opened the Slovak Honorary Consulate in Kolkata. The Business Forum was also a successful introduction to cooperation with the Honorary Consulate of the Slovak Republic in Kolkata.