Bucharest, November 5, 2025 – RBJ – Romania and India strengthen economic partnership through a new stage of collaboration. The Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism hosted, in Bucharest, on November 5, the 19th session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation Romania-India (JEC), an event that marks over 75 years of diplomatic relations and more than a decade of extended partnership between the two states.
The Romanian delegation was led by the Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Radu Miruță, and the Indian delegation by Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry of the Republic of India.
“Romania is ready to become a strategic partner of India in Central and Eastern Europe. We have the infrastructure, the skills and the membership of the largest common market in the world – the European Union – and India comes with a spectacular growth rate and a huge market. If we put these resources in the same direction, we win both economies”, declared the Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Radu Miruță.
The work of the joint commission reflected the traditionally friendly relations between the two states and the common desire to deepen economic and trade cooperation, in the context of current global challenges. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the bilateral partnership and to open new opportunities for collaboration in areas of common interest.
During the discussions, the prospects for cooperation in areas such as energy, IT&C, industrial policies, defense, infrastructure, agriculture and the food industry, tourism, mineral resources and SMEs were analyzed.
The two sides also welcomed the adoption of the EU-India Strategic Agenda 2025, which includes prosperity, sustainability, strengthening supply chains and strengthening global economic security among its priorities. Moreover, India’s relationship with the European Union is essential, given that the European Union is India’s second largest trading partner, representing trade in goods worth EUR 120 billion in 2024, or 11.5% of India’s total trade.
According to data from the Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade, the European Union’s share of the stock of foreign direct investment in India reached EUR 140.1 billion in 2023, up from EUR 82.3 billion in 2019. Conversely, India’s investments in the European Union amounted to EUR 10.2 billion.
Bilaterally, Romania’s trade with India recorded its highest level in 15 years in 2023, placing India in second place in the hierarchy of Romania’s trading partners in Asia, ahead of Japan and South Korea. However, 2024 saw a 39% decrease in bilateral trade, totaling USD 1.059 billion. Exports stood at USD 291.64 million (-16.1%), and imports at USD 768.07 million (-44.7%). Romania’s trade deficit, on this relationship, amounted to USD -476.43 million (down 54.4% compared to 2023).
The main product categories exported by Romania to India in the first half of 2025: machinery, equipment and mechanical devices (59.4%); basic metals and metal products (9.4%); Optical instruments and equipment (9.3%); mineral products (7.5%); plastic and rubber products (6.3%); textiles (3.8%); wood and wood products (1.2%); stone articles (0.6%); vehicles and transport equipment (1%); chemical products (0.9%).
The top exported goods include bearings (20.5%), electrical switchboards and panels (11.9%), petroleum oils, bituminous materials, other than crude (7.5%), electrical apparatus for telephony and telegraphy (6.3%) and instruments for physical or chemical analysis (5.6%).
The next session of the Romania-India Joint Intergovernmental Commission will take place in New Delhi, in 2026.
