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Mumbai, March 22, 2001 Money trade between the Indian and Romanian governments along with a barter trade/counter trade arrangement at the company-level can give a major impetus to the bilateral trade between the two countries, observed Valer Potra, Executive Secretary of Romanian Indian Governmental Joint Commission, and Director, Directorate for Economic Co-operation with APEC and Developing Countries, Department of Foreign Trade. Potra was leading a delegation of Romanian experts, which called on representatives of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry on March 20, 2001. Addressing the meeting, Potra said the Romanian Government is embarking on a programme to strike a balance between the major requirements of market economy and those of social protection and solidarity that would meet the objective and strategic requirements of European and Euro-Atlantic region. Touching upon the privatisation plan of the Romanian government, Potra said the priority sector includes agriculture, food industry, machine-building industry, electrical and electronic sector, chemicals and fertilisers, banking, mining, energy, telecommunications, geology, building materials, wood products and textile sector. In India, Romania has already invested in several projects including steel, oil exploitation, chemicals and petrochemicals, metallurgy, power generation, refineries. For the Indian pharmaceutical industry, the Romanian Government has revised the registration procedures for drugs. So far, businesses worth $67.4 million (US) in various sectors have been carried out between Romania and India. While $ 37.9 million (US) account for exports from Romania to India, $ 29.5 million (US) account for imports from India to Romania. Elaborating on the bilateral economic relations with India, Potra pointed out that both the governments in the past have signed Trade Agreement and Economic Co-operation agreement in 1993, Agreement on Promotion and Protecting the mutual investments in 1994, Agreement on Scientific and Technological Co-operation in 1993 and Agreement on Tourism Co-operation in 1994. New agreements likely to be signed by the end of this year according to Potra, include Maritime Transport Agreement, Convention on Sanitary-Veterinary Co-operation and Revision of Double Avoidance Agreement. Furnishing details on Romanian Trade, Potra said that his country's exports amounted to US $10.4 billion in the year 2000. The main industrial sectors that have contributed to the country's exports include:
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