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Trade and
investment go hand in hand
Mar-24-2008
There is substantial scope for
cooperation between Africa and India in
order to help provide a better quality
of life for the people of both nations:
Pranab Mukherjee
It gives me immense pleasure to be
present here today at the valedictory
session of the 4th India-Africa Project
Partnership Conclave organized by the
Confederation of Indian Industry. Since
the last such conclave held in Delhi in
October 2006, there have been 6 equally
successful regional conclaves, held in
Lusaka, Addis Ababa and Accra in 2006,
and in Kampala, Maputo and Abidjan in
2007. All of them have played an
important role in bringing together our
policy and business communities to
greater mutual benefit. This is
therefore an initiative to which we
attach great importance and which enjoys
the fullest support of my Ministry, the
Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the
EXIM Bank of India. I would like to
place on record my deep appreciation for
CII whose officials have been untiring
in their efforts in organizing this
event and the earlier nine conclaves.
I am also particularly delighted to have
the opportunity of speaking at this
conclave with Africa in the run up to
next month’s India Africa Forum Summit,
which India will have the honour of
hosting. I am confident that the Summit
will give a renewed thrust to the
centuries-old partnership between India
and Africa. We are grateful to the
Governments of Africa for their response
to this initiative and I take this
opportunity to thank them once again for
their support.
Today, however, I would like to express
my gratitude to Their Excellencies the
Vice Presidents of Tanzania and Ghana
for having taken the time to grace these
proceedings with their presence and to
share their wise counsel with us. My
special thanks also go out to Their
Excellencies the Ministers from more
than thirty African nations, who have
provided leadership to over 600
delegates from their countries. Thank
you for traveling all the way to be with
us. I understand that these conclaves
have helped our governments as well as
public and private sectors to better
understand and meet each others’
aspirations and developmental needs and
priorities. I trust all of you have
found value in this ongoing partnership
exercise to develop the trade and
economic relationship between India and
Africa.
India is fortunate to enjoy
long-standing and warm links of
brotherhood and affinity with the
African continent. The waters of the
Indian Ocean unite us. Indian traders
and seafarers reached the shores of
Africa centuries ago and made Africa
their home. Our shared experience of
colonialism and India’s unstinting
support in the African struggle against
apartheid and colonialism helped us
establish a close political
relationship. Apart from our common
civilizational heritage, we are united
by common ideas, ideals and icons.
Indeed, India and Africa are natural
allies and we eagerly look forward to a
comprehensive engagement with Africa,
which has always enjoyed an important
position in our foreign policy
priorities.
Today, Africa is witnessing far reaching
changes. In recognition of this, India
and the countries of Africa have, for
some time now, been in the process of
providing a contemporary character to
our relationship. The economic growth
paradigm in Africa has altered with real
GDP estimated to have grown by almost 6%
and a large number of countries growing
at an average rate of 5% over the years.
Several countries have benefited from
debt write-offs through the HIPC
initiative and resultant improvements in
credit ratings. Ideas of democracy and
good governance are taking root. There
is recognition that achievement of
stability and peace are key for
socio-economic development and that
partnership amongst the Africans
themselves is an imperative.
Nevertheless, the international
community’s supportive role remains
vital.
It is in this context that there is
substantial scope for cooperation
between Africa and India in order to
help provide a better quality of life
for the people of both nations. Both
sides are home to a wealth of
biodiversity, substantial natural
resources and hard working populations.
What we need is to identify areas of our
core competence and match these with the
economic and societal needs of a
particular nation. Knowledge sharing,
knowledge creation and knowledge
dissemination must be a vital component
of our cooperation.
I am gratified to note that India’s
trade with Africa has been increasing in
recent years. Two-way trade has risen
from 5 billion US dollars in 2001-02 to
nearly 25 billion US dollars in 2006-07,
a five-fold growth in as many years,
even though it does not include the
import of gold bullion. Nevertheless, I
am sure that all in this room share my
belief that our trade flows are still to
achieve their true potential. In order
to do so, India has signed Trade
Agreements with 29 countries in Africa.
India and the Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (COMESA) have also
decided to set up a Joint Working Group
to study the possibilities of signing a
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
Agreement (CECA). Negotiations are
ongoing as well for a Preferential Trade
Agreement with the Southern African
Customs Union.
Let me take this opportunity to make
what I think are four thematic points as
we explore the way ahead for a new
India-Africa partnership. First, for
India, trade and investment go hand in
hand. It is with this in mind that
Indian companies are making robust
investments in Africa in sectors ranging
from horticulture and agriculture to
power generation and mining. I take this
opportunity to urge our African friends
present here to encourage Indian
industry even more in their efforts.
Second, as a continent, Africa is
generating enormous demand for
appropriate infrastructure technologies,
products, engineering services and
capacity building, especially for
setting up manufacturing capabilities
for local value addition as well as for
generating employment. India has made
strides in manufacturing and technology
by pursuing a model of development that
we believe is appropriate, affordable
and relevant in the African context. We
have offered the benefits of our
experience to African countries and are
committed to continue our support in
areas of our strength, including human
resource development and capacity
building programmes. Africa is today the
largest recipient of India’s ITEC
programme. We are extending and
diversifying the programme to cater to
special needs of individual countries
and groups of nations. Projects such as
the Pan African e-Network are an
illustration of our genuine effort at
sharing our progress in the knowledge
sector and helping bridge the digital
divide in Africa.
Third, India has, in recent years,
extended many bilateral and regional
lines of credit on concessional terms to
the countries of Africa. These have been
used mainly for developmental projects
chosen by and in the interest of the
recipient countries. We are in a
position to do more in this field and
our focus will be on fostering
sustainable socio-economic development
in our partner countries.
The fourth and last theme I want to
touch upon is the fact that Africa has
found merit in regional integration and
is increasingly seeking to consolidate
its regional economic communities.
India’s engagement with African
countries has in the past focused on
bilateral engagement. Of late, however,
we have also taken initiatives for
establishing relationships with the
regional economic communities. We have
made progress with COMESA, SADC, ECOWAS
and EAC and hope to make progress with
ECCAS, IGAD and others. I see this as a
most promising area for our larger
cooperation.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
India has always had a vision and a
message for the world. From the very
beginning of our civilization, we have
believed that humanity is a single
family. We are committed to establishing
ties of friendship and co-operation with
all countries. Our ties with Africa are
special and we will continue to work
with Africa and the international
community to create a better world - a
world free of terror, poverty, disease,
ignorance and inequality. In this
context, I would like to highlight some
aspects of the international situation
that all of us are called upon to face.
Terrorism constitutes a grave threat to
the civilized world. India believes that
this is an evil that can only be
combated by exercising zero tolerance
for all kinds of terrorist violence and
by significantly enhancing the levels of
international cooperation in this area.
India looks forward to enhancing its
cooperation with African countries on
this matter, both bilaterally and in
various multilateral fora. The
conclusion of a Comprehensive Convention
on International Terrorism is important
in this regard.
The reform of the United Nations remains
high on our agenda and we seek the
support of the African countries for
overall reforms, including
democratization and expansion of the UN
Security Council in both permanent and
non-permanent categories. India also
attaches great importance to the Doha
Round of trade negotiations currently
underway and we seek the continued
support of African countries to ensure
that the vision of the Doha Round as a
developmental round becomes a reality.
Climate change is another subject which
figures increasingly in our discussions.
Our commitment to solutions based on
common but differentiated responsibility
and respective capabilities remains
steadfast. We seek a convergence of per
capita GHG emissions between the
developed and the developing world.
Transfer of technologies at affordable
prices is a key factor in this process.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
India is committed to work in
partnership with Africa. May I, on
behalf of the Indian delegates as well
as my own behalf, thank you all for your
presence here today and reassure you of
our continuing commitment to the further
development of India-Africa relations.
Thank you.
The above is an extract from the speech
delivere by Pranab Mukherjee, External
Affairs Minister at the 4th India-Africa
Project Partnership conclave
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