Latin America offers good trade avenues for India, says envoy
By IANSTuesday, September 1, 2009
CHENNAI - The Latin American region, unaffected by the global meltdown, offers good business opportunities for Indian companies in sectors such as information technology (IT), pharmaceutical, renewable energy, agri-business and manufacturing, said a senior Indian diplomat here Tuesday.
“Indian companies should formulate long-term strategies to tap the available potential. India’s bilateral trade with Latin America has gone up eight times to $16 billion since 2001,” said R. Viswanathan, India’s ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Viswanathan was speaking at a seminar themed “India and Latin America: Augmenting Synergies in Post-Crisis World,” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
According to Department of Commerce director Suchismita Palai, the Indian government has realised the importance and the potential of Latin American countries.
Compared to China’s $140-billion bilateral trade with that region in 2008, that with India stood at only $16-billion. This, she said, could be doubled by 2012.
