Anand Sharma to lead India at India-Africa Trade Ministers' meet

New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma will lead India in a special meeting of India-Africa Trade Ministers to be held on May 21 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The meeting precedes second Africa- India Forum Summit and will be involving Trade and Industry Ministers from all the member States.

The outcome of the trade ministers' meet will be reflected in the Summit Declaration of the leaders, which will be held on May 24-25.

The trade ministers are likely to exchange views on the on-going multilateral trade negotiations in the Doha Round and how to safeguard the interests of the developing Nations in Multilateral Cooperation.

They will also exchange of views on the global economic situation and each country's macroeconomic policies along with the ways of strengthening of trade and investment relations between India and Africa.

Discussions are also likely to cover the issue of accessing the Indian market, including implementation of Duty Free Tariff Preferences Scheme (DFTP) for LDCs. India may also offer technical assistance and capacity Building for Africa in the areas of "Dispute Settlement in WTO" and "WTO Negotiations" ighlighting the importance of the growing trade and bilateral investment with Africa Sharma said, "Economic and Development Cooperation between India and Africa is a corner stone of their new age partnership. Trade between India and Africa crossed 46 billion dollars last year and is expected to reach 70 billion dollars by 2015.

"Indian private sector entrepreneurs have evinced considerable interest in partnering in Africa's growth story and have made investments in excess of 25 billion dollars in a wide range of sectors from Telecom, Automobiles, IT, Pharmaceuticals and Agriculture," he added.

He said the Africa- India Forum Summit provides a unique opportunity to strengthen the economic dialogue between India and the African Countries and promote measures for capacity building."

"It is proposed to discuss the establishment of a mechanism to strengthen Trade and Investment linkages between India and Africa with specific focus on the role of Regional Economic Communities, he added.

An India Show, profiling India's rich heritage, the story of its developmental journey and showcasing its achievements in the field of industrial development shall be hosted along with the Trade Ministers' meet.

A business conclave will also be organized in which leading CEOs of India will take part and have an interaction with their counterparts from Africa. (ANI)