Jaitley leads Invest India mission to Paris

Sunday, 02 November 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley will be accompanied by an industry delegation when he leaves Monday to attend the first of Invest India meet series in Paris. Several members of Indian Inc will be part of the Confederation of Indian Industry delegation headed by Dhruv Sawhney, chairman and managing director of Triveni Engineering. "The Invest India series envisages highlighting India as an investment destination to the French Companies and raising the level of awareness among the French business about the capabilities possessed by the Indian industry," the CII stated Sunday. "A 100-member strong Indian-French business is meeting in Paris on the issue and will work towards bringing further investments into India, from potential sectors and regions of France," the CII stated. Biotechnology, IT, infrastructure, agriculture and food processing are the focus sectors for the Invest India initiative in Paris. The two-day event will showcase the developments in the sector and scope for future cooperation between Indian and French companies. Some of the French companies participating in the series are: BNP, Credit Lyonnais, Schneider, COFACE, Thales, Lafarge and CIMENTS Francais. CII's partner institution in France is MEDEF- an apex industry body of France. France is being viewed by India as an important source of technology for its industries. A large number of French companies have been active in India in major projects, notably in the construction and engineering sectors. The country wise analysis of Indian exports over the period 1991-2000 shows that exports to France have been small compared with Germany and Britain. Indo-French trade doubled in the 90s and French investment in India went up to €1.2 billion. French exports to India were valued at Euro 0.96 billion in 2001-02 while Indian exports were valued at Euro 1.49 billion during the same period.
Source: IANS
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