India, France sign pact to push economic ties

Thursday, 09 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: France views India as a strategic country for trade and has adopted an action plan to expand its commercial and economic ties with the billion-strong nation, French Trade Minister Francois Loos said Thursday. Addressing the 13th Indo-French Joint Committee meeting here with his Indian counterpart Kamal Nath, Loos said there was a need for closer interaction between the two countries to tap the vast potential in economic ties. "The Indian market is largely unknown in France and opportunities in India are barely known in France," the visiting minister said. The two sides later signed a joint statement that called for diversifying and expanding the pattern of bilateral trade and investments between the two countries, among a host of other issues of mutual interest. Kamal Nath and Loos also had "frank and fruitful discussions" during which they not only broached on issues of mutual interest, but also raised some of their respective concerns, officials said. The French side pointed out that India's taxes on imported goods, especially on wines and spirits, customs controls on foodstuff, and the requirement to mark the maximum retail price hampered French products coming to the country. India asserted that its customs tariffs on wines and spirits were in line with the commitment to the World Trade Organisation, but noted the French request on lowering duties of imported wines and spirits. Kamal Nath told Loos that while France had emerged an important destination for software exports, IT professionals from India were facing problems in securing visas and work permits in France. He said visas were also being granted for short periods and suggested that the French authorities could consider visa or a work permit regime of granting green cards for Indian IT professions with a five-year tenure. The two sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in the area of geographical indication for agricultural products and discussed the issue of protecting Indian Darjeeling tea and its logo from misuse in France. Similar action, they felt, could be taken on protecting products such as basmati rice and alphonso mangoes. France expressed its readiness to receive an Indian delegation to discuss the modalities of cooperation in this area. Kamal Nath informed the French side about the liberal foreign investment policy of the Indian government, but pointed out that while France was India's 9th largest investor in terms of approvals, the actual inflows were just a third of the amounts approved. He proposed that the Indo-French Joint Committee could look into this issue.
Source: IANS