CHENNAI - India's bilateral
trade with China will cross US$10 billion this calendar
year, but the country needs to diversify from iron ore
exports to other items such as dairy products, yarn and
electrical machinery in order to sustain the momentum, a
top government official said today.
"We should
be crossing US$10 billion by December-end," Vinay
Kwatra, economic and commercial counselor at the Embassy
of India in Beijing, told a conference, organized by the
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI) to promote India's trade to Northeast Asia,
including Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
India's bilateral trade with China during last
calendar stood at $7.6 billion. Figures till
January-August this year, show the bilateral trade
amount crossing last year's figure at $7.69 billion.
Kwatra, speaking at one session here in Chennai,
said iron ore constituted 58% of India's exports to
China. "This is not sustainable. We need to diversify to
other areas," he said. The new focus should be on
sectors such as gems and jewellery, dairy products,
heavy machinery, electrical machinery, and other items,
he said.
Inaugurating the conference, Rahul
Khullar, joint secretary, department of commerce, Union
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said this was the
first time that the government was organizing a
conference of commercial representatives of North East
Asia region.
"There is considerable scope for
vast expansion of trade with these countries," he said,
adding the region constituted one-seventh of India's
total trade of US$20 billion.
(Asia
Pulse/PTI)
Sep 29, 2004
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