 |
| Dy. Prime Minister and Trade Minister of Iraq, Dr. Rowsch Shaways meeting the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Textiles, Anand Sharma, in New Delhi. |
New
Delhi: Iraq has made a
formal invitation to the Indian companies to take part in their reconstruction
programme in various fields including construction, IT and energy sectors.
In a meeting held between the visiting Iraqi
Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Rowsch N Shaways and Minister of Commerce, Industry
and Textiles Anand Sharma on Monday here, the visiting minister has emphasised
the need to diversify the trade basket between the two countries and proposed
food, construction, minerals, IT, pharmaceuticals, energy and automobile as
possible areas for cooperation.
Inviting Indian firms to Iraq either in JV or independently,
the Deputy PM said, “We are open in all formats and welcome Indian
participation in our reconstruction programme.”
Assuring India’s commitment towards building bilateral relationship with
Iraq, Anand Sharma said, “The Joint Business Council between India-Iraq needs
to be activated so that the interaction between businessmen of both the
countries could be maintained regularly. The apex chambers of commerce should
interact on regular basis for arranging joint business meetings to boost the
bilateral trade.”Reaffirming India’s intention to partner with Iraq in all possible areas of trade, Sharma said, “We will be happy to see Indian companies being encouraged in Iraq’s reconstruction programme and we will also point our companies in that direction.”
He mentioned that for capacity building of Iraq India is annually providing 120 slots under the Indian Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme to train Government of Iraq officials. Similarly, India is offering 50 scholarships to Iraqi students for higher studies in India under the ‘Cultural Exchange Programme Scholarship Scheme’ (CEP) and the ‘General Cultural Scholarships Scheme (GCSS) being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has been providing training in India to the Iraqi officials on various subjects related to downstream oil sector.
Indian Ambassador in Iraq, who was also in the meeting, said that every day about 160 medical visas are being issued to Iraqi citizens. “The people-to-people contacts are developing fast as are also the academic linkages between the two countries particularly in the medical and engineering fields. India has become the most favourite destination for Iraqis for seeking quality medical treatment. More than 28000 Iraqis visited India in 2010 for medical treatment, education and tourism.”
Both side also agreed to revamp Indian presence in Baghdad International Trade fair. The Trade Minister of Iraq Dr Kheer Allah Hassan Babkr who was attending the meeting said there should be no need of third party in India-Iraq trade and Indian company should be able to deal directly with the players in Iraq. He singled out government companies in the fields of construction and automobile which can deal with Indian firms directly.
India-Iraq trade volume
Iraq is an important trading partner of India in West Asia. Bilateral trade has registered a 100% increase over the last five years. The total trade has increased from US$ 5.7 billion in 2006-07 to US$ 9.7 billion in 2010-11. The exports from India have gone up from US$ 203.99 million in 2006-07 to US$ 738.65 million in 2010-11. Similarly, imports from Iraq have gone up from US$ 5.5 billion in 2006-07 to US$ 9.0 billion 2010-11. The top five exportable items from India to Iraq are Manufactures of metals, electronic goods, rice-basmati, meat & preparations, machinery & instruments etc.
Similarly top five importable items from Iraq to India are Petroleum Crude & Products(99.88 %) Fruits & Nuts Excl Cashew Nuts, Sulphur & Unrosted Iron Pyrts, Wool Raw, Organic Chemicals etc. Both the leaders agreed that the bilateral trade does not reflect the full potential and can be further exploited to mutual advantage of both the countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment