EU-India business meet to up trade, knock down barriers

EU-India business meet to up trade, knock down barriers

Uttara Choudhury, Agence-France Presse, New Delhi

The European Union and India hope to shore up 27 billion euros
(US$32.2 billion) worth of annual bilateral trade at a two-day
meeting starting on Friday by increasing business-to-business
links and knocking down trade barriers.

The fourth EU-India Business Summit organised jointly by five
industry lobby groups, the Indian government and the European
Commission has drawn more than 50 businesspeople and trade and
government officials.

"Trade between India and the EU is poised for a major take-
off. We just need to ensure there is nothing blocking the flight
path," said joint summit organiser Tarun Das, director general of
the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"An agreement in the pipeline on having more transparent and
efficient customs procedures will naturally boost trade."

The sudden cancellation of a visit to India by Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi due to ill-health had necessitated a
programme change, an Indian official said.

Berlusconi, whose country currently holds the revolving
presidency of the EU, was to address the meeting along with
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, European Commission
President Romano Prodi and EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris
Patten.

The Italian premier was also to have held day-long bilateral
talks with Indian officials Friday but these were cancelled, the
official said.

The EU presidency will be represented by Italian deputy
foreign minister Margherita Boniver, a spokeswoman for the EU's
foreign policy representative, Javier Solana, told AFP in
Brussels.

The meeting would "no longer be a summit but a ministerial
meeting," the spokeswoman added.

A customs cooperation pact is expected to be signed on
Saturday between India and the 15-member EU, which is India's
largest trading partner accounting for 25 percent of its imports
and exports.

Indian officials could not immediately say if the signing of
two bilateral agreements between India and Italy, on science and
technology and cooperation in cinema production, would go ahead
in Berlusconi's absence.

A spokeswoman for EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris
Patten, who is here to attend both the EU-India political and
business meets, said the Europeans also hoped to open
negotiations with India on a maritime deal to cut freight costs.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI), also an organiser of the business meet, acknowledged
India had to do more to attract greater foreign investment from
the West.

"We have to cut red tape, improve infrastructure and do
whatever it takes to ensure India is a rival investment
destination to China," said Amit Mitra, secretary general of
FICCI.

China enjoys a two-decade-long head-start over India, which
only began serious economic reforms in the early 1990s.

India and the EU will try to bridge differences from failed
World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in October in Cancun,
Mexico.

India, during negotiations, led a bloc of developing countries
that demanded richer nations trim subsidies to their farmers.

Stefano Gatto, trade and economic counsellor of the European
Commission, said that in broad terms the bloc remained committed
to global deals within the WTO rather than going for a "patchwork
of bilateral agreements."