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RUDY TO ATTEND MINISTERIAL MEETING OF BIMST-EC IN MYANMAR

New Delhi: December 19, 2001

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, is leading Indian delegation for the Ministerial meeting of BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka & Thailand – Economic Cooperation), to be held in Yangon, Myanmar between 19-21 December, 2001. BIMST-EC represents an attempt to explore and develop synergies based on the land and maritime contiguity of member states. BIMST-EC offers attractive possibilities of sub-regional economic cooperation, especially in the areas of trade and investment, and the transport and communications infrastructure. The last Ministerial meeting was held in July 2000 in New Delhi.

BIMST-EC forum arose from a joint initiative by India, Sri Lanka and Thailand in 1996-97. Later, the grouping was joined by Bangladesh and Myanmar. BIMST-EC formally came into being at its 1^st Ministerial in December 1997 in Bangkok. BIMST-EC functional cooperation has 6 primary sectors: Science & Technology, Trade & Investment, Transport & Communications, Energy, Fisheries and Tourism. A major focus area in Trade & Investment is the proposal to develop a BIMST-EC Free Trade Area. The last meeting of Trade Ministers has mandated further action to a Group of Experts, to include both official and business representatives, under India’s Chairmanship.

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RUDY URGES PAPER INDUSTRY TO BECOME COMPETITIVE VALECDICTORY FUNCTION OF PAPEREX 2001

New Delhi dated 16 December, 2001

 

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, has urged the Indian paper industry to become competitive in the international market. Delivering the valedictory address at PAPEREX 2001, the 5^th international trade fair and conference on pulp and paper industry here today, Shri Rudy noted the industry’s request for a level playing field vis-à-vis imports and underlined the need to become competitive given the fact that post-liberalisation, incentives and concessions had to be WTO-compatible, which also meant that it could not continue functioning indefinitely in a protected environment. He also assured that the government would do its best for the pulp and paper industry and urged the industry to provide regular feedback to the government regarding problems being faced by them.

Pointing out that the government had provided policy support by relaxing norms for import of machineries and equipment under project imports at concessional rate of duty, he urged the captains of the Indian paper industry to motivate the workforce for better production techniques and technologies. Industry should take initiatives to reduce cost of production through continuous research and development and also address environmental needs to prevent water and air pollution, the latter being of particular significance as the subject of environment was part of the WTO agenda.

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MARAN LAUNCHES INDIA’S FIRST TRADE PORTAL

New Delhi, 15 December, 2001

Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, launched India’s first Trade Portal along with the Business Information Centre in the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) premises at Pragati Maidan here today as part of the country’s trade promotional effort to use technology as a tool in boosting exports and improving competitiveness through greater efficiency in responses and trade transactions. Shri Maran described the launch of the Trade Portal as an important step in India’s efforts towards E-Commerce and familiarising trade and industry in India and abroad with the Indian government’s trade policies and reform packages that are announced from time to time. It would generate considerable impetus to the trade promotion movement in the country as a strategic input in the government’s efforts, he said. The launch of the Trade Portal signals the timely implementation of the announcement which was made by the Minister on 31 March, 2001 while releasing the EXIM Policy that a Business Information Centre with a Trade Portal would be set up in Pragati Maidan to assist overseas buyers and the Indian exporters, Shri Maran said. Shri Prabir Sengupta, Commerce Secretary, Smt. Rathi Vinay Jha, the new Tourism Secretary and formerly Chairperson-Managing Director (CMD) of ITPO and Shri S.N. Menon, Acting CMD/ ITPO also spoke on the occasion. An Electronic Product Catalogue and BIC Brochure were released by the Commerce Secretary, which was followed by a presentation on the content and interactive features of the Trade Portal by Dr. (Smt ) V.S. Bharucha, Officer On Special Duty, ITPO.

Shri Maran said that despite the presence of a large number of agencies dealing with trade or trade promotion there had been a need to have a comprehensive data bank on the economy and the industry which would act as the first point of contact for any trade or trade related information. Trade Portal " tradeportalindia.com" fulfils this long felt need by providing an electronically accessible data bank with connectivity linkages and interactivity, Shri Maran said, adding that the Business Centre and the Trade Portal would help the Indian exporters as well as the global importing community by enabling interactive dissemination On Line of new markets, products, events and opportunities and providing business match making services to facilitate on-line market response. Arrangements have also been made for updating the data base to make it current and live partly in-house and partly by out sourcing. The Minister complimented the ITPO for completing the project in the tight time schedule of six months.

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INDIA & TAJIKISTAN TO GIVE MOST FAVOURED NATION STATUS TO EACH OTHER
PROTOCOL TO INCREASE BILATERAL TRADE SIGNED TODAY

New Delhi: December 13, 2001

India and Tajikistan have agreed to give Most Favoured Nation status to each other regarding import and export of goods, customs duties and other dues and taxes in force for import, export and transit of goods. Both sides stressed the importance of further strengthening of the trade relations and agreed to increase the volume of mutual trade and broad-base its structure. It was agreed to render assistance in setting up joint ventures in the fields of mutual interests and ensuring their normal functioning on the basis of Bilateral Agreements. This was indicated in the Protocol of the First Session of the Joint Commission meeting, which was signed by Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, here today, on behalf of Government of India and Mr. H. Soliev, Minister of Economy and Trade signed on behalf of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Tajik side offered for export various non-traditional items such as sulphate resistant cement for use in the construction of hydro-technical buildings, asbestos cement pipe for use in irrigation, communication and sewerage, enriched quartz sand for glass industry etc. The Indian side confirmed its intention to provide maximum support in respect of Tajik side’s desire of launching regular flights of "Tajik Air" on the route Dushanbe-New Delhi. Both sides noted the immense potential that exists for cooperation in industrial sector including the sector of agro-industry. The Tajik side expressed appreciation of Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation (ITEC) and sought an increase in the scope of this programme. The two sides emphasised the need of greater interaction through participation in trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, visits of business delegations and it was agreed that the next session of the Joint Commission would be held at Dushanbe in 2002.

Earlier the session discussed the matters of mutual interests in trade, investment and economy which was attended by senior officials from both sides including Shri Prabir Sengupta, Commerce Secretary and Shri S. S. Kapur, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce.

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Studies on competitiveness of Indian industries initiated
Doha Ministerial resulted in substantial gains for India

Maran addresses Consultative Committee Meeting of Commerce and Industry

New Delhi, dated 13 December, 2001

Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, today announced that studies have been undertaken by the government to improve the competitiveness of Indian industry in Paper, Cement and the Capital goods sectors. Addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry here this morning, Shri Maran said that the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (IPP) had worked out the modalities for carrying out the studies in these key industrial sectors. The Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (Banglore) has already finalised with the Price Water House Coopers for conducting a study on the global competitiveness of the Indian engineering industry focussing on the capital goods sector, while a similar study is being negotiated for cement with Mckenzie, Price Water House Coopers, KPMG, Arthur Anderson and Boston Consultancies and the Central Pulp and Paper Research Institute has been asked to carry out a study on paper. These studies would be finalised shortly and the recommendations would be shared with industry for suitable follow-up, the Minister added. Dr.Raman Singh and Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ministers of State for Commerce & Industry; Shri Prabir Sengupta, Commerce Secretary; Shri V.Govindarajan, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion; Shri A.K.Kundra, Chairman, Tariff Commission; Shri Nripendra Misra, Special Secretary and Shri N.L.Lakhanpal, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), attended the meeting which had "WTO and the Industrial Scenario" on its agenda.

Referring to the industrial scenario, Shri Maran said that although the present growth rate of Indian industries was low aggravated by global economic slowdown, there were signs that the growth rate was picking up. As a result of various policy interventions made by the government to improve the industrial environment and to remove infrastructure bottlenecks, some signs of recovery were seen in recent months in consumer durables, electricity, cement and steel sectors and growth in non-oil imports during October 2001 also signalled improvement in demand. Shri Maran also mentioned that compared to many other countries who had experienced negative growth rate, India has continued to maintain a positive growth. Further, despite the slowdown, India continued to be ranked amongst the world’s fastest growing economies. However, " We need to grow much faster", Shri Maran said, while pointing out that the current competitiveness ranking of India was 36^th out of 75 countries, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2001.

The Members of Parliament present at the meeting – namely, Shri P.C.Thomas, Shri Bali Ram Kashyap, Dr.N.Venkataswami, Shri B.Venkatershwarulu, Shri S.Rama Muni Reddy, Shri Hipeie, Shri M.Master Mathan, Dr. Mahesh Chandra Sharma and Shri A.D.K.Jayaseelan - complimented the Minister and his team for successfully articulating and safeguarding India’s interests at the WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha last month and agreed with Shri Maran that the focus now had to be on preparing for future negotiations. Shri Maran reiterated that India had made substantial gains at the Doha Ministerial Conference and that the Doha outcome was in conformity with the shared interests of all stakeholders in the country who had been consulted extensively before the Doha Conference. Listing out the Doha gains, the Minister said: (1) Important Implementation Issues were addressed at Doha and the balance was now an integral part of the WTO’s Work Programme. (2) Primacy has been given to public health over patents and under the Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, countries in their sovereign capacity can issue compulsory licenses and also establish regime for parallel imports for solving their public health problems. (3) The issue of core labour standards had been kept out of the WTO agenda. (4) India’s concerns on rural development and food security have been mainstreamed into the agricultural negotiations in the WTO. (5) Protection of traditional knowledge and folklore and bio-diversity have become an integral part of TRIPS review, while there was scope for achieving higher levels of protection for geographical indications of Indian products like Darjeeling Tea and Basmati Rice. (6) The 4 Singapore Issues i.e. Investment, Competition Policy, Transparency in Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation were not for multilateral negotiations without an explicit consensus and (7) In Environment, adequate safeguards have been built in to ensure that there would be no protectionism under the garb of environment. " A significant gain lies in the mainstreaming of special and differential provisions (for the developing countries) across all the agreements of the WTO", Shri Maran stressed.

Members suggested greater coordination between the Centre and the States as well as between the Ministries of Commerce & Agriculture for future negotiations. While welcoming the suggestions, Shri Maran informed the Committee that a mechanism was already in place in the form of a Nodal Officer on WTO related matters to facilitate proper interface between the Center and State governments, while on agriculture, the proposals submitted to the WTO were formulated by the Agriculture Ministry. Earlier, there was a presentation on the Doha Ministerial Conference by Shri Prabir Sengupta. On Singapore issues, Shri Sengupta explained that explicit consensus would be required for both starting the negotiations and for drawing up the modalities of the negotiations. Besides, at Singapore, explicit consensus was required for negotiations on Investment and Competition Policy only, whereas at Doha, explicit consensus has been extended to all the four Singapore Issues including Trade Facilitation and Transparency in Government Procurement. In a sense, therefore, Doha has gone beyond Singapore in terms of addressing our concerns in the new areas, he added.

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NO DECISION ON CHANGE IN LABOUR LAWS FOR SEZs

New Delhi: December 11, 2001

The government has not finalised its views in regard to changes in labour laws applicable to units in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today. He mentioned that the FICCI study, which briefly sets out some of the factors for success of SEZs, advocates a flexible labour policy for the Zones. The study has suggested that power of the Labour Commissioner be delegated to the Development Commissioner of SEZ to oversee the implementation of labour laws within the Zone.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has suggested certain improvement in the policy framework for SEZs. These include tax incentives for SEZs developers and for units located in the Zones, liberalised policy in telecommunication sector to the service providers in SEZs and decentralised and speedy environment clearance. The government has not finalised its views in the matter, Shri Rudy said.

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REVIEW OF INDO-NEPAL TREATY: LIMITED EXTENSION OF TREATY FOR THREE MONTHS

New Delhi: December 11, 2001

Discussions are in progress between the concerned authorities of India and Nepal to resolve certain issues that have emerged during the implementation of the India-Nepal Treaty of Trade, as modified in December, 1996, prior to the extension of its validity. A limited extension of the Treaty for a period of three months from December 5, 2001 has been agreed to enable the negotiations to the treaty to be concluded. This was stated by Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

In reply to another question, the Minister said that consequent upon certain modifications made in December 1996 in the India-Nepal Treaty of Trade, a number of representations have been received from the Indian industry that the increasing imports of certain commodities from Nepal including vanaspati, copper-wire, acrylic yarn, zinc oxide and steel pipes and tubes etc. have adversely affected the Indian industry. As provided in the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Trade, the process for taking appropriate measures in consultation with His Majesty's Government of Nepal has been initiated. Suitable amendments to be made in the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Trade to protect the interest of the Indian industry are also being considered, he said.

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MARAN ANNOUNCES PACKAGE OF FRESH MEASURES TO SAFEGUARD INTERESTS OF RUBBER GROWERS

New Delhi: December 11, 2001

Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, has announced a package of fresh measures with regard to import of natural rubber with a view to safeguarding the interests of natural rubber growers in the country. These measures, which are consistent with the WTO rules and guidelines and our own national laws and regulations, are as below:

With immediate effect, Calcutta and Vizag will be the only designated ports in the country, at which imported natural rubber can land. This will ensure monitoring of the import transactions on expeditious lines between the Customs and the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S), Headquartered at Calcutta.

Registration of NR (natural rubber) importers with the Rubber Board to be made mandatory. This is consistent with the present arrangement under which all the rubber goods manufacturers as well as dealers have to register themselves with the Rubber Board as provided under the Rubber Act (Section 14). This would help Rubber Board in monitoring imports, and assessing the raw-material requirement of the industry in the QR-free regime in terms of grade, varieties etc.

Conformity with the BIS Standards for quality for imported natural rubber as in the case of domestic NR has been made mandatory. As per Rule 48 of Rubber Rules 1955, framed under the Rubber Act, every processor shall grade and market his NR in conformity with such standards as are specified by the Indian Standards Institution from time to time. It is further clarified that in the case of domestic NR processor, who fails to comply with the quality standards specified by Rubber Board/BIS, the Rubber Board has powers to cancel the licence and recommend withdrawal of the BIS certification. As this is being practised and enforced in the domestic market, the same quality standards should be applied to the imported rubber also, and this will be checked and monitored by the Rubber Board at the port of entry.

It may be recalled that deeply concerned with the plight of the natural rubber (NR) growers of the country, particularly Kerala which accounts for more than 90% of the production in the country, Government of India had already taken a number of steps in the wake of the QR-free regime that became effective from April 1, 2001 onward. They are:

Since under the QR-free regime, natural rubber could be imported by anyone without licence, Government decided to make an exception in the case of rubber by banning duty free import of this raw material for advance licence holders with export commitments. They have been given the option to import NR as DEPB holders

In order to encourage direct nexus between rubber growers and user industry, Government have decided to give handling charges @ Rs. 0.75 per kg to the primary rubber grower societies so that they could procure rubber at the notified minimum price from the growers and make it available at the notified price to the user industry. The State Government have also brought down purchase tax from the level of 11% to 6% on transactions conducted through Kerala State Rubber Cooperative Marketing Federation and Rubber Board promoted companies.

As a further measure of support to the rubber growers, Government have decided to provide financial incentive @ Rs. 3.50 per kg for export of natural rubber to any destination in the world. This incentive Scheme would cover aspects relating to quality upgradation, packaging and internal transportation. Simultaneously, Government of Kerala are also giving the same incentive @ Rs.3.50 per kg. to the exporters to match Central Government’s efforts to encourage export of natural rubber. The state Government have also exempted levy of purchase tax on export transactions related to natural rubber.

Incentives have also been decided to be provided for advance licence (AL) holders who cannot import natural rubber under the present ban. STC will procure NR from domestic sources for advance licence holders as STC has now been allowed to be entitled for the export incentive of Rs. 3.50 per kg from the Central Government for the supply of domestic rubber to AL holders. This would enable rubber growers to fully meet the demand of the advance licence holders. Government of Kerala are also being approached to provide the same incentive to STC as deemed exporters.

In order to boost the prospects for Indian rubber in the international markets and secure concrete orders, it has been decided to send a high-level joint team of STC, Rubber Board and Government of Kerala.

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NO IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF CHINA'S ENTRY INTO WTO ON INDIAN INDUSTRIES: RUDY

New Delhi: December 11, 2001

The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the WTO held at Doha, Qatar, decided on 10^th October, 2001 to accept the accession instruments indicating the terms and conditions of Peoples Republic (PR) of China's membership in WTO. Subsequently, on 11^th November 2001, the Government of PR China accepted the protocol done at Doha. Accordingly, PR China's accession to WTO will enter into force on 11December 2001, one month after the acceptance of protocol by the Government of PR China.

India has been actively involved in the GATT/WTO accession process of China which started in 1986. A bilateral agreement was signed with China on 22^nd February, 2000 where tariff and other concessions were agreed to by China with India. There may not be any immediate impact on Indian industries on account of China's accession to WTO as such, because India and China have already been exchanging Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment and because the concessions had to be given unilaterally by China on entry to WTO and no reciprocal commitments were involved on the part of India or any other WTO member. The effects of China's accession to WTO should, therefore, be beneficial to Indian exports since conditions of market access including in respect of tariffs in the Chinese market will significantly improve. The main policy emphasis is to make the Indian industry globally competitive in addition to regular monitoring of imports, particularly consumer goods.

This was stated by Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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Corporate Social Responsibility is now firmly on Global Public Policy Agenda, says Rudy

New Delhi: December 10, 2001

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State of Commerce & Industry, said that the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Business Volunteerism is now firmly on the global public policy agenda and new tools, codes of conduct, performance measures and accountability mechanisms are being developed rapidly. Speaking in an international seminar on "Business Volunteering: Corporate in Community" organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), here today morning, Shri Rudy said that corporations, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) and governments have a major role to play in defining and promoting Business Volunteerism.

Shri Rudy said that the economic globalisation is changing the perceived roles and responsibilities of the state, civil society and business and pointed out that the important issue is the imbalance between the power and resources of corporations, limited resources of NGO’s and facilitation by the government. In the present scenario of downsizing and job cutting and the ever growing population, he said, the need of the hour is to promote the tiny industries and to encourage micro-entrepreneurs and create more job opportunities, as the micro-enterprises are going to contribute significantly towards the GDP of the country.

The Minister emphasised the need to improve the export performance and said there are many positive underlying factors for the Indian economy including the record level of foreign exchange reserves, stable and low inflation, declining interest rate environment and much better prospects in the agriculture front. At this juncture there is a need of high tech SSI sector and the cooperation of business volunteers to support the SSI’s on crucial parameters, he said.

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EXPORTERS URGED TO BE PROACTIVE IN PROMOTING EXPORTS DURING CURRENT YEAR

RUDY GIVES AWAY CAPEXIL AWARDS

MMTC GETS AWARD FOR HIGHEST MINERAL EXPORTS

New Delhi: December 07, 2001

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, has urged the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) to be more proactive and innovative in their promotional efforts so as to sustain the country's export growth during the current year 2001-2002, in view of the present adverse international trading environment. Addressing the Export Awards ceremony of the CAPEXIL at the FICCI auditorium here today, Shri Rudy also urged CAPEXIL to innovate its promotional devices for identified markets. The government, he said, was trying to help the exporters to strengthen their presence in the existing markets through the recent Market Access Initiative Scheme under which financial support is provided to EPCs and other trade promotion bodies for various promotional activities including market research, product development and participation in international trade fairs. In the next couple of years, substantial funds could be provided to trade promotion bodies under the Market Access Initiative to undertake export promotional activities, Shri Rudy indicated. He also referred to the steps taken by the government to remove procedural bottlenecks and mentioned in this context faster issue of licences as a result of the new system of electronic filing and online processing of applications as also the announcement of lower interest rates for export credit by RBI to tide over the current situation.

MMTC Limited, India's first super star trading house, received the CAPEXIL award for highest mineral exports for the 10^th time in a row. The award was received from Shri Rudy by Shri S.D. Kapoor, Chairman & Managing Director of MMTC which has achieved considerable success in mineral exports leading to an impressive growth of 32.7% during the year 2001 with its mineral business exceeding Rs.1361 crore.

Shri Rudy congratulated the award winners as also the Council for having exported merchandise worth US $ 3253 million (i.e. US 3.2 billion) during 2000-2001, recording an all time high in the history of the Council. Noting that CAPEXIL (formerly Chemicals & Allied Products Export Promotion Council) started its journey in 1958, the Minister complimented the Council for taking up a new project to cater to the needs of exporters from the North Eastern region as well as for launching an exclusive B-2-B portal which would be particularly useful for exporters of minerals, glass & glassware, rubber products, ceramics & potteries and books & publications.

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ROLE OF PRIVATE SECTOR VITAL TO INCREASE TRADE WITH NEW ZEALAND, SAYS RUDY

TENTH INDIA-NEW ZEALAND JOINT BUSINESS

COUNCIL HELD

New Delhi: December 6, 2001

 The role of the private sector would be pivotal in realising the existing potential of India and New Zealand in increasing the bilateral trade. India is one of the tenth fastest growing economies in the world and despite the present global slowdown, India still is the second largest growing economy after China. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, stated this while delivering his inaugural address at the 10^th India-New Zealand Joint Business Council (JBC), here today, which was organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). He said the Council has identified certain areas of cooperation that would yield benefits to both countries and this sort of focussed exercise is of immense value in increasing returns to both sides. At the same time, he said, there are many areas of cooperation which are either unexplored or need to be further strengthened. Mr. Paul Swain, New Zealand Minister for IT, Communications and Commerce, Ms. Caroline McDonald, High Commissioner of New Zealand in India and Shri Atul Sinha, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry were present along with representatives from trade and industry in the meeting.

Shri Rudy urged business friends from New Zealand to review their business interests in India and asked them to fully exploit the investment opportunities offered by India. The Minister informed that India’s FDI policy has undergone radical reforms allowing FDI in almost all sectors of economy including defence industries. He said the strength in IT of both sides is complementary to each other and we should synergise to upgrade our respective strength in software and hardware sectors.

Earlier, Mr. Paul Swain called on Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, and discussed the outcome of Doha Ministerial Conference in detail. Both the leaders exchanged the views regarding Singapore issues. Shri Maran raised the issue of suspended aid assistance to the domestic apple producers in Himachal Pradesh. He requested his counterpart to restore ENZA programme, which was being implemented since 1997 for the development of apple industry in Himachal Pradesh. Shri Maran informed that the bilateral trade between the two countries registered a growth of 53% in 2000-2001 compared to 1991-92. Both sides decided to make all out efforts to diversify the tradable baskets with a view to promote the bilateral trade through the JBCs.

The principal commodities that India export to New Zealand are cotton yarn, fabrics, drugs & pharmaceuticals etc. and India’s imports consist of raw wool, wood & wood products, coal and coke briquettes.

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INDIA, FRANCE TO INTENSIFY TRADE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
MARAN URGES FRENCH SUPPORT FOR GREATER MARKET ACCESS IN EU

INDO-FRENCH JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING HELD

New Delhi: December 5, 2001

India and France have agreed to intensify their cooperation to realise the full potential of bilateral trade and investment. Towards its end, trade and industry of both the countries would step up their cooperation through strategic alliances, joint ventures and technical cooperation in areas such as agro-products, telecommunications, energy, transport and information technology. Both governments would extend their fullest cooperation in this regard. This is indicated in the Joint Statement issued at the 11^th Session of the Indo-French Joint Committee, which was signed here this evening by Shri Murasoli Maran, Minister of Commerce & Industry, on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Francois Huwart, Minister of Foreign Trade, on behalf of the French Government. While noting that bilateral trade and investment have registered a significant growth during the last few years -- with bilateral trade of the order of US $ 1.65 billion and FDI approvals from France worth US $ 1.53 billion -- the Committee underlined that this growth was not commensurate with the actual potential of the two countries in terms of their respective resources and capacities. Both sides discussed the issue of market access and agreed to have periodic bilateral concentrations for minimising trade barriers.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural session, Shri Maran hoped for a positive role by France as a leading member and an important opinion maker in the European Union (EU) on market access issues which are of concern to India. He pointed to the widely held view in the Indian trade & industry that market access for Indian goods and services in the EU was becoming increasingly difficult because of numerous and varying sanitary and phytosanitary, packaging & labelling requirements and trade defence measures in the EU and stressed that such actions impacted on India's trade volume with the entire EU, while urging a higher flexibility in extending better market access for Indian products and services through more transparent and predictable standards. Chief Executive Officers of leading Indian and French companies participated in the deliberations along with senior officials from both sides including Shri Prabir Sengupta, Commerce Secretary Shri Nripendra Misra, Special Secretary and others.

In the Joint Statement, both sides expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the Doha Ministerial Conference and committed themselves to work for the developmental agenda, thus carrying forward the work programme in the WTO. Both sides also reviewed the functioning of bilateral mechanisms in the form of the Joint Working Group in the key sectors of energy; mineral exploration & development; agriculture; information technology; and telecommunications. Possibilities in the cooperation in the areas of urban infrastructure, ports, roads and bio-technology were also discussed. France is the 5^th largest export destination for India among the EU countries and is currently 9^th in the list of countries from which foreign direct investment (FDI) has been approved since 1991. Further liberalisation of policies have made India attractive destination for doing business and investing.

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Doha agreement on TRIPS would accelerate India’s pharma exports
Rudy asks Indian Missions in East Africa to adopt aggressive strategy to boost trade

New Delhi: December 3, 2001.

The recent Doha agreement on TRIPS, which enabled developing countries to procure generic versions of drugs for diseases like AIDS, Malaria and T. B., presents new opportunity to accelerate India’s pharma exports. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, said this in a conference of Heads of Indian Missions in 7 Eastern African countries, today in Nairobi. Shri Rudy asked Indian Missions to adopt an aggressive strategy to boost the trade as also to devise the ways to gather necessary market intelligence on continuous basis for evolving India’s strategy. The Minister pointed out the areas of cotton yarn/fabrics, readymade garments, rice, drugs & pharmaceuticals, software & electronics, engineering goods and sports goods in which India have edge over its competitors. He stressed the need for an in-depth analysis of our competitors, specially the ones from Asia to evolve our strategy to boost the trade with African countries. Heads of Indian Missions and Commercial Representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles participated in this meeting.

Shri Rudy emphasised the efforts of the government to promote trade with increased interaction between governments and business of the two regions. He said the government is looking at the measures to improve financing of exports, put in place an expeditious system of clearance of overseas investments for public sector companies, and harmonise the manufacturing standards of the regions. Shri Rudy urged the Missions to be more active in countering the negative effects of anti-dumping cases and anti-subsidy investigations by closely liasing with interest groups of consumers and importers as also with their counterparts in the government. He said the conference like this would enable us to have a clearer understanding of the role of the government, the Missions and the industry for expansion of trade in general and exports in particular. All the seven Missions presented their individual report in the conference.

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INDIA’S FOREIGN TRADE: APRIL-OCTOBER, 2001-2002

New Delhi: December 1, 2001

India’s exports during April-October, 2001-2002 are valued at US $ 24382.54 million which is 2.88% lower than the level of US $ 25104.56 million during April-October, 2000-2001. In rupee terms, the exports were Rs.115173.69 crore, which is 1.87% higher than the value of exports during April- October, 2000-2001.

Exports during October 2001 are valued at US $ 3444.08 million which is 7.39% lower than the level of US $ 3718.91 million in October 2000. In rupee terms the exports were Rs.16538.41 crore, which is 4.04% lower than the value of exports during October, 2000.

India’s imports during April- October, 2001-2002 are valued at US $ 30542.43 million representing a growth of 3.12% over the level of imports valued at US $ 29617.88 million in April-October, 2000-2001.

Oil imports during April-October 2001-2002 are valued at US $ 8895.82 million which is 8.1% lower than oil imports valued at US $ 9682.95 million in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during April-October, 2001-2002 are estimated at US $ 21646.61 million which is 8.59% higher than the level of such imports valued at US $ 19934.93 million in April- October, 2000-2001.

Imports during October 2001 are valued at US $ 4191.46 million which is 1.03% higher than the level of US $ 4148.92 million in October, 2000. In Rupee terms, the imports increased by 4.68%.

The trade deficit for April- October, 2001-2002 is estimated at US $ 6159.89 million which is higher than the deficit at US $ 4513.32 million during April- October, 2000-2001.

Tables giving details of exports, imports and trade balance, according to the provisional estimates of Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S), are attached.

SB/PM/MRS