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India to strengthen tie-ups with Latin America
By siliconindia
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Monday, 27 September 2010, 17:42 IST
Bangalore: New Delhi has identified Latin America as the key export destination and is expected to announce a slew of packages as well to strengthen trade tie-ups between the countries. India is looking forward to sign an FTA with Peru as the first step of engagement. The government is looking forward to include newer Latin American countries in the focus market scheme (FMS) and announce tax breaks for Indian exporters.
"Latin America is a key bloc for us. So far our trade has been restricted to Brazil and Argentina but there are other key markets which we are exploring," an official said. India is also expected to reduce import duties on a set of imports from Latin America. According to a report published by Inter-American Development Bank, agricultural exports from Latin America attract an import duty of 65 percent in India.
"In our foreign trade policy (FTP) announcement, we have steadily shifted the focus to developing countries because it is from these areas that the growth will come," said Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce. Earlier this month Scindia led a delegation to Peru scouting opportunities for enhanced trade between the two countries.
India's increased engagement with Latin America was needed because China had already ramped up its trade with that part of the world.