BUDGET 2000
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
COMMENTARY
GOVT&ECONOMY
Y2K: BIZ FEATURES
INDIA & THE WTO
CREDIT POLICY
BIZ IN THE USA
CARS & MOBIKES
MANAGEMENT
CASE STUDY
BIZ-QUIZ
USEFUL INFO
ARCHIVES
NEWSLINKS
SEARCH REDIFF

Narayanan, Chirac talks to boost trade ties

Indian President K R Narayanan and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac held wide-ranging discussions today and agreed to build stronger strategic and commercial bonds between their two nations.

Both the leaders discussed commercial issues as also India's worsening ties with Pakistan.

K R Narayanan is the first Indian president to visit France officially. He reached Paris yesterday and was given a grand welcome at the Elysee Palace, where he and his family are guests of honour. Chirac had visited India two years ago.

The French president urged India to endorse the nuclear test ban treaty. He said that if India did this, it would be clear to the world that New Delhi shares global concern over nuclear armaments.

The French president also said that France will stand by India on the matter of a permanent membership to the United Nations Security Council. He, however, said that non-proliferation was very important for global security.

Chirac said that India's involvement with the European Union, or EU, is imperative to have a global balance of power.

The Indian President said India said that it would be nice if the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC, follows the EU path towards strengthening economic ties in the Asia.

India and France have an annual trade of about $ 2 billion. Though the bilateral trade grew last year by about 10 per cent, France still lags behind all the major EU countries and the United States in overall investments made in India and also the level of the annual bilateral trade.

In terms of investments made in India, France presents a sorry picture, since last year the French investments in Vietnam were over $ 350 million, as against only commitments of $ 270 million into India.

"Yes, I would agree with the view that the economic and business relations between the two countries are not what they should be. Even though they are growing, they could be much better," a senior French official said in Paris.

The French government, which has been egging its private sector to look more closely at India for the last couple of years, is attaching a lot of importance to the ratification of the Protection of Investment Agreement.

"This will be a major boost for the confidence of the French industry to go ahead and make investments in India," the official said.

The two sides have taken a number of steps to ensure that the private sector in both the countries is increasingly brought into contact with each other.

In December last year, France had mounted France India 2000, the biggest ever gathering of the French industrial might on Indian territory, in which nearly 500 French companies had participated.

The Confederation of Indian Industry, or CII, and its French counterpart, Medef, have been in constant contact with each other since last year when the CII opened an office in Paris.

The French officials are optimistic that the constant contact between these two organisations and the regular high level and official level dialogue will help boost trade and business relations between the two sides.

"Moreover the media attention created by high level visits like this state visit ensure that the business community is kept aware of the developments in India and that India always remains on their radar screens," an official said.

''In spite of all the obstacles and setbacks, we work for such co-operation following the example of Europe,'' Narayanan said.

Narayanan, on a five-day visit, will also meet Prime Minister L Jospin today. He will leave France on April 21.

Business