CECE President Alexandre Marchetta and ICEMA President Dimitrov Krishnan have signed a MoU extending the cooperation between the two continental organisations. The signature was announced at the end of the first-of-its-kind virtual CECE-ICEMA Summit. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)The MoU extends an initial partnership formalised in 2019 and sets the terms of understanding between CECE and ICEMA for their bilateral cooperation. The main objective of the cooperation is understanding reciprocal market developments and improving market access and global trade. CECE and ICEMA pledge to be working together towards closer collaboration in the area of regulatory convergence, data exchange and market openness.“Both European and Indian markets offer great potential for the construction equipment industry,” underlined Marchetta. He reminded the importance of this partnership: “CECE ICEMA’s close collaboration helps the industry in improving market access and accelerating technical developments.” Krishnan said, “The ICEMA-CECE Summit 2022, first-of-its-kind to be ever held between the Indian and EU construction equipment industries, is a step in the right direction and opens up opportunities for constructive dialogue and collaboration between ICEMA and CECE across a wide range of areas spreading across technology development and sustainability, policy and trade, supply chain management, amongst others.” “ICEMA and CECE collaboration assumes significant importance for the infrastructure sector. Joint dialogues and initiatives between the two global associations will help foster developments across key areas of common interest between the Indian and EU Construction Equipment Industries,” said Deepak Garg, Convener, ICEMA Strategic Partnerships Panel. Enhanced cooperation Europe and India are some of the largest markets worldwide. With over 500 million consumers, the European Union is a successfully integrated internal market whose high standards in terms of safety and environment are recognised worldwide. India, with its huge middle class, is one of the fastest growing global economies and offers a lucrative market for investment and growth. Against this background, a mutually reinforced cooperation is beneficial for both markets. Creating opportunities for both marketsThe MoU is seen as a great opportunity for both markets in terms of guaranteeing a fair competition and free trade. Establishing long-term business relationships based on partnership, trust and mutual learning are key in order to strengthen the ties between the respective construction equipment markets.