‘India aims to increase bilateral trade to $50 bn’

FOR Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, his last week’s US visit was strictly about business. Apart from attending various meets organized by the Indian business community, Nath held a series of discussions with his American counterpart and senior officials in the Bush Administration.

The agenda of the meets was to find out ways to increase trade and business between the two countries and cooperation at different global forums on various trade-related issues. The most important of them being the upcoming Doha Round meet in Geneva. Our goal is to double the two-way trade in three years, Nath said, adding that India aims at increasing bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2008.

He met with the US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley and House Ways Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas.

But the most significant was his meeting with the US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab for the third ministerial meet of the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF). At a press conference after the meeting, Nath said they agreed on a number of initiatives to strengthen and deepen the bilateral trade relationship. With India already among the US’s fastest growing bilateral trade partners, the cooperative steps endorsed at the meeting will serve to further trade and investment.

On Doha round negotiations, they agreed that the US and India share a commitment to conclude a successful, far-reaching Doha Round by the end of 2006.

Under the Trade Policy Forum we continue to make steady progress on key issues to improve the bilateral trade and investment climate, said Schwab. We remain committed to doubling bilateral trade over next three years, and improving the regulatory, customs and intellectual property protection climate is key, she said.

Nath said: The Trade Policy Forum has, within a short time emerged as a very effective forum for the two sides to enhance bilateral trade and investment. It was encouraging to see both sides engaged in intensive discussions at the expert level on a variety of issues of mutual interest.

As a result of the meeting, the two countries agreed to cooperate on an action plan to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement by providing a vibrant intellectual property right (IPR) regime and to initiate a bilateral Infrastructure Investment Program (IIP), which will focus on identifying the investment opportunities, incentives and challenges in key infrastructural sectors.

The two countries also agreed to work toward selecting participants for a working group on legal services to discuss market access and other relevant issues; continue discussions on tariff structures to facilitate wine and spirits trade as well as discussions on emissions standards for large motorcycles; and creation of a senior-level private sector adjunct to the Trade Policy Forum that will provide strategic direction, input and support to the TPF.

The topic of export of Indian mangoes to the USwhich has now become symbolic of improving ties between the two nations also came up for discussion. The process is export of mangoes from India to the US is expected to begin next summer.