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NEWS FEATUREIndia, Morocco to diversify economic cooperationIndia and Morocco have identified pharmaceuticals, agriculture, automobiles and renewable energy asnew areas of collaboration to boost their economic relationship, the external affairs ministry said.

Global sourcing, manufacturing irreversible: Commerce ministerPervasive technology, bilateral, multilateral and regional trade pacts and domain expertise have made globalsourcing and manufacturing irreversible, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.

More in this section

OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS

US business, envoy discuss investment opportunities in IndiaInvestment opportunities in India were the focus of discussions between the new Indian Ambassador S. Jais-hankar and a group of 90 industry executives and businessmen from the US-India Business Council (USIBC).

India gets $307 billion foreign investments in 13 yearsIndia has received $306.88 billion foreign investments since 2000 on the back of liberalisation in overseasinvestment norms for various sectors, including telecom, retail, defence, fiance and oil and gas, govern-ment data showed on January 29.More in this section

ITP Division Ministry of

External Affairs Government of India

Issue no 556 I January 28-February 3, 2014

p. 02/04

TRADE NEWSIndia’s spices exports rise by 32 percentIndia’s spices exports jumped by 32 percent to $1.39 billion in the April-November period of the current finan-cial year, according to data released by the Spices Board of India.


p. 08/09

p. 05/07

p. 10/12

p. 13/15

SECTORAL NEWSCore sector output grows by 2.1 percent in DecemberIndia’s core infrastructure sector that includes coal, power, cement and oil and gas, registered a growth of 2.1 per-cent in December, government data showed on January 31.


NEWS ROUND-UPWTO wants to conclude Doha round this yearThe World Trade Organsiation (WTO) is pulling out all stops to conclude its protracted Doha round of talks bythe end of this year, following the adoption of a package in Bali last month, a top official said on January 28.


WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> NEWS FEATURE


India, Morocco to diversify economic cooperationIndia and Morocco have identified pharmaceuticals, agri-culture, automobiles and renewable energy as newareas of collaboration to boost their economic relation-ship, the external affairs ministry said.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid met hiscounterpart Salaheddine Mezouar and exchanged viewson regional and global issues of common concern, in-cluding international terrorism, a statement said.

The two sides agreed that their foreign office consul-tations would be held later this year. Khurshid extendedan invitation to Mezouar to visit India at a mutually con-venient date.

He said after his meeting with Mezouar that the twocountries explored ways and means of diversifying their“phosphate-centric” economic and commercial relationswhich have an “immense untapped potential”.

“To further boost economic cooperation, we have alsoidentified new areas of collaboration such as pharma-ceuticals, agriculture, automobiles and renewable en-ergy,” he said.

Khurshid said India and Morocco have deep-rooted historical links from the days of the famous Moroccan traveller IbnBatuta in the 14th century and the ties had strengthened since diplomatic relations were established in 1957.

“Our bilateral relations are warm and cordial. There are hardly any areas of divergence of views on bilateral relations,”he said.

He said India sees Morocco as a model country, a pillar of stability and progress and an emerging economy.“We deeply appreciate Morocco’s support to India in the UN and other multilateral fora, in particular for the expression

of support for a permanent seat for India in a reformed and expanded UN Security Council,” Khurshid said.He said India had proposed setting up of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre in Morocco and

was taking steps to implement the proposal.India was also willing to offer additional slots and scholarships to Morocco for training and higher education under var-

ious schemes of the Indian government, he said.India and Morocco signed two memorandums of understanding concerning cooperation in marine fisheries and envi-

ronment.Khurshid is on a seven-day visit to Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan that will end on February 5.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

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Pervasive technology, bilateral, multilateral and regional tradepacts and domain expertise have made global sourcing andmanufacturing irreversible, India’s Commerce and IndustryMinister Anand Sharma said.

“Though there is talk about manufacturing returning to Eu-rope and the US due to job losses and economic downturn,trend of global sourcing of capital, raw materials and labourfor products and services is irreversible, as they have becomepart of the global supply and value chains,” Sharma said at atrade meet.

Inaugurating the 20th edition of the Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII) partnership summit, he said global manufactur-ing was not depended on labour and capital alone, as technol-ogy and innovation had overcome their barriers.

“As developing and emerging economies such as China, Indiaand countries in Africa and Latin America advance on technol-ogy and innovation, their competitiveness will go up,” Sharmasaid kickstarting the three-day annual flagship event of India Inc.

Noting that 1.5 billon new consumers would enter global markets, mostly from Asia in the coming years, he said theopportunity would transform the region, riding on its demographic dividend, liberal economic policies and improved infra-structure.

“These favourable factors will make Asia the fulcrum of manufacturing activity in the world. For India, where manu-facturing is driven largely by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), it is imperative to integrate them into global supplyand value chains,” he told about 1,000 delegates from 40 countries participating in the summit.

In spite of China and East Asia being at forefront of emerging supply chains, Sharma said new opportunities wouldcome for them from Africa, as its nations were aspiring to value-added manufacturing-led economy from a commoditydriven trade.

“India has a huge advantage of historical linkages with Africa, which are taking shape of a robust economic partner-ship. Experience of last two decades has shown we are witnessing an unprecedented churning in the nature of manufac-turing and only companies and countries, which have ability and resilience to adapt and transform, will retain leadershipposition,” he said.

As key element for integration in value chains would be efficient supply chain, robust logistic services and world classinfrastructure, he said industrial corridors were being built across the country to link hinterland with ports and build effi-cient infrastructure for cargo movement.

“Four industrial corridors will link the country from Delhi to Mumbai, Mumbai to Bangalore, Bangalore to Chennai, andAmritsar to Kolkata. We have notified 14 greenfield integrated industrial townships, of which eight are coming up on theDelhi-Mumbai industrial corridor,” he said.

Admitting every country would have its strategic interest to secure energy security and food security for self-suffi-ciency, the industry minister said there were areas or industry verticals in which a country would have maturity to beglobally competitive.


Global sourcing, manufacturing irreversible: Commerce minister

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 28 hiked key pol-icy interest rates by 0.25 percent to tame inflation. The movecould make home, automobile and other loans costlier andfurther dampen industrial growth.

The repo rate that banks pay when they borrow moneyfrom the RBI to meet their short-term fund requirements, wasincreased to 8 percent from 7.75 percent per annum.

The reverse repo rate that the RBI pays to commercialbanks when they park their surplus short-term funds with thecentral bank, has been adjusted to 7 percent.

In its third quarter review of the monetary policy, the RBIalso hiked the marginal standing facility rate by 0.25 percentto 9 percent. However, the cash reserve ratio (CRR) has beenkept unchanged at 4 percent.

These rates determine the lending and borrowing norms ofcommercial banks, thus affecting the equated monthly install-ments (EMIs) on home, automobile and other loans.

The move came as a surprise as most analysts had predicted a status quo, given the recent softening of inflation. The wholesale price-based inflation declined to a five-month low of 6.16 percent in December. It was at a 14-month

high of 7.52 percent in November. There was a similar decline in retail inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation eased to 9.87 percent in

December from 11.16 percent in the previous month, according to the latest official data. In the policy review statement, RBI Governor Raghuram G. Rajan said that despite the recent softening, inflation has

been high and the policy action was aimed to set the economy on a “disinflationary path”.However, Rajan said a near term tightening in the monetary policy is not expected. “If the disinflationary process evolves according to this baseline projection, further policy tightening in the near term

is not anticipated at this juncture,” he said. “In fact, if inflation eases at a pace that is faster than we currently anticipate, and that reduction is expected to be sus-

tained, the Reserve Bank will have room to become more accommodative,” the governor added. India Inc. and a section of the government have been clamouring for rate cuts to revive economic growth, which is lin-

gering at a decade’s low. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slumped to 4.6 percent in the first half of the current financial year, the

worst performance in over a decade. Factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)dropped by 2.1 percent in November.

Rajan said the central bank is also concerned about economic growth and is “fostering growth through steady re-forms.”

“The slowdown in the economy is getting increasingly worrisome. Our current assessment is that growth is likely tolose momentum in Q3 of 2013-14, with industrial activity in contractionary mode, mainly on account of manufacturing,”he said.



RBI hikes key policy interest rates by 0.25 percent

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS

Investment opportunities in India were the focus ofdiscussions between the new Indian Ambassador S.Jaishankar and a group of 90 industry executivesand businessmen from the US-India BusinessCouncil (USIBC).

The meeting in Washington on January 29 wasfollowed by a welcome reception of over 200 mem-ber companies of the trade group comprising 350top-tier US and Indian companies advancing US-India commercial ties, US government officials,think tanks, and friends of India.

Jaishankar, according to a media release, en-gaged with USIBC on important topics that havedominated the bilateral commercial relationship in recent months - namely, tax treatment of investments in India andthe protection of intellectual property (IP).

Industry captains also discussed the need for improvements to infrastructure and increased investment in defenceand energy, it said.

The executives advocated for the lifting of FDI caps in important sectors like insurance and defence, and for adjust-ment of the retail policy to attract major investment and organized players into India.

The group raised the need to work together towards a step-by-step immigration reform bill in the US Congress thatallows choice, promotes American competiveness, and enhances free market opportunity.

Commitments were restated by both sides to advance a unique trusted traveller programme known as Global Entrywhich will allow approved travellers to breeze across the globe, using a “quick pass kiosk” at airports to avoid long linesat Customs and Immigration, the release said.

Thanking the envoy, USIBC Chairman and MasterCard President & CEO Ajay Banga said: “The potential to reach $500billion in two-way trade by 2020 is an achievable goal if we work together in partnership in an environment that providespredictability, consistency, and transparency.”

“Outstanding issues will be resolved through constructive dialogue, and USIBC looks forward to working with India toenable such dialogue,” he said.

USIBC President Ron Somers said: “Ambassador Jaishankar has shown that he values the US-India business relation-ship as pivotal to driving the overall partnership forward.”

Source: Indo-Asian news Service

US business, envoy discuss investmentopportunities in India


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India has received $306.88 billion foreign investments since 2000 on the back of liberalisation in overseas investmentnorms for various sectors, including telecom, retail, defence, fiance and oil and gas, government data showed on January29.

“Between 1999-2004, India received $19.52 billion of foreign investment which increased to $114.55 billion between2004-09, and increased further to $172.82 billion between 2009 to September 2013,” the commerce and industry ministrysaid in a statement.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have a positive impact by supplementing domestic capital, technology andskills of existing companies, including in the aviation sector, as well as through establishment of new companies, it said.

“It has indirect multiplier effect on other related sectors also, and thereby stimulates economic growth. FDI inflows alsohave a positive impact on the current account balance,” the ministry added.

In the past one decade the government has amended the sectoral caps and and entry routes for overseas funds in sev-eral sectors like petroleum and natural gas; commodity exchanges; power exchanges; stock exchanges, depositories andclearing corporations; asset reconstruction companies; credit information companies; tea sector including tea plantations;single brand product retail trading; test marketing; telecom services; courier services and defence.

“The review of FDI policy is done with a view to boost investor confidence, thereby stimulating FDI inflows and contribut-ing to accelerated economic growth,” the ministry said.


India gets $307 billion foreign investments in 13 years

Despite unexpected capital outflows in the middle of the year, India experienced a 17% growth in foreign direct investment(FDI) inflows at $28 billion in 2013, and has been ranked at the 16th position among the top 20 FDI destinations of the world.Besides, it turned out to be a strong performer in attracting FDI along with its BRICS partners namely Brazil, Russian Feder-ation, China and South Africa.

These are the findings of the UNCTAD Global Investment Trends Monitor, which noted that FDI flows to developingeconomies reached a new high of $759 billion, accounting for 52% of global FDI inflows in 2013. At the regional level, flowsto Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa were up, while developing Asia, with its flows at a level similar to 2012, re-mained the largest host region in the world. On the other hand, developed countries, however, remained at a historical low(39 %) for the second consecutive year.

FDI inflows to developed countries increased by 12% to $576 billion, with such investment to the European Union in-creasing, while flows to the United States continued to decline.

“FDI inflows to transition economies also recorded a new high of $126 billion – 45% up from the previous year, account-ing for 9% of global FDI inflows. Among major regional and inter-regional groupings, APEC and BRICS almost doubled theirshare of global FDI inflows from the pre-crisis level,” the report said. APEC now accounts for more than half of global FDIflows, on a par with the G20, while BRICS jumped to over one-fifth.

In late 2012, the 10 ASEAN member states and their six FTA partners — Australia, China, India, the Republic of Korea,Japan and New Zealand — launched the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The re-gion have combined FDI flows of $326 billion, accounting for more than 20% of global FDI flows in recent years.

Global FDI increased by 11% in 2013 to an estimated $1.46 trillion, with the lion’s share going to developing countries.Going ahead, UNCTAD forecasts FDI flows to gradually rise in 2014 and 2015, at $1.6 trillion and $1.8 trillion, respec-

FDI inflows grew 17% in 2013, says UNCTAD


tively, largely on account of recovery in developed economies. “GDP growth, gross fixed capital formation and trade are pro-jected to rise globally over the next years. Those improvements could prompt TNCs to gradually transform their record lev-els of cash holdings into new investments,” the report added.

However, UNCTAD has cautioned that uneven levels of growth, fragility and unpredictability in a number of economiesand risks related to the tapering of quantitative easing could dampen the FDI recovery.

Source: The Financial Express

India is set to open its state-run railways for foreign di-rect investment (FDI) to expand its network and mod-ernise its operations, Commerce and Industry MinisterAnand Sharma said in Bangalore.

“We are looking at opening up FDI in railways, while ithas been increased in the defence sector to 49 percentfrom 26 percent with technology transfer,” Sharma toldreporters on the sidelines of a trade meet.

As one of the world’s largest transport networks, cov-ering 65,000 km and 7,500 stations, the railways ferries25 million passengers daily in about 11,000 trains acrossthe country.

A top official was quoted recently in a section of themedia that the government was open to 100 percent FDIin railways and looking for about $10 billion FDI over the next five years to improve and expand its infrastructure, spanningsuburban corridors, high-speed trains and freight corridors.

“We are also considering liberalising the construction sector further and allowing FDI in the realty sector,” Sharma saidafter inaugurating the three-day partnership summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).



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India eyes FDI in railways

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> TRADE NEWS


India’s spices exports jumped by 32 percentto $1.39 billion in the April-November periodof the current financial year, according todata released by the Spices Board of India.

In terms of US dollar value spices exportsrose by 32 percent in the first eight monthsof the current fiscal while in rupee term thejump was 46 percent. This was due to asharp depreciation in the value of rupee.

Volume of spices exports rose by 28 per-cent in April-November period year-on-year.

“Increased demand for Indian spices inthe international arena is a testimony totheir nonpareil quality and escalating faith intheir sustainability,” A.Jayathilak, chairman,Spices Board India, said in a statement.

The exported quantity of spices jumped to5,08,555 metric tonne (MT) in April-Novem-ber 2013 from 3,98,000 MT recorded in teh same period in the previous year.

The mint basket with products such as mint oils, menthol and menthol crystals rule the roost with an export of 15,850MT which earned a sum of Rs.1975.17 crore.

It showed an increase of 129 percent in volume and 62 percent in value when compared to the export of 6,916 MT dur-ing the same period in the previous year, which fetched Rs.1,222.99 crores.

Pepper and Turmeric have asserted their prominent position in the spices export arena with an export value ofRs.572.26 crore and Rs.408.28 crore respectively.

Coriander, during the period recorded Rs.235.57 crore enjoying a 119 percentage increase in value.Small Cardamom , popularly known as ‘The Queen of Spices’, accounted for 1805 MT valued at Rs. 144.35 crore.Fennel showed great promise with exports of 13,100 MT in volume, valued at Rs.116.40 crore.Jayathilak said the future of spices trade looks promising and secure with the current trend that has surpassed the

export figures for the corresponding period in the previous year.Source: Indo-Asian News Service

India’s spices exports rise by 32 percent

The government imposed a 5 per cent exportduty on iron pellets, a critical raw material for thesteel industry, and raised the excise duty on panmasala, gutkha and chewing tobacco.

“Considering the domestic requirement of ironore pellets, the government has decided to im-pose an export duty of 5 per cent on iron ore pel-lets,” the Finance Ministry said.

Iron ore fines and lumps already attract an ex-port duty of 30 per cent.

“ In April-November, 2013, exports of iron orepellets have risen sharply, causing an apprehen-sion about shortage of iron ore in the country,” the Ministry added.

Source: The Hindu

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> TRADE NEWS


5% export duty on iron ore pellets

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> SECTORAL NEWS


India’s core infrastructure sector that includes coal, power, ce-ment and oil and gas, registered a growth of 2.1 percent in De-cember, government data showed on January 31.

The growth in the core infrastructure that includes eight in-dustries was 1.7 percent in the previous month year-on-year.

There was positive growth in power, steel, fertilizer, while out-put of natural gas and coal declined.

Power output that has 10.32 percent weight in the Index of In-dustrial Production (IIP) registered a growth of 6.7 percent duringthe month under review, according to data released by the min-istry of commerce and industry.

Steel production increased by 3.1 percent, cement output rose by 1.1 percent, fertilizer production jumped by 4.1 percentand crude oil production increased by 1.6 percent in December year-on-year.

However, coal output declined by 0.6 percent, natural gas production slumped by 9.9 percent, and petroleum refinery pro-duction fell by 1.7 percent.


Core sector output grows by 2.1 percentin December

Insurance regulator IRDA has set up a nine-member committee to review the 14 non-legislative recommendations made bythe Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC).

The committee will also examine the extant legislative and regulatory framework in compliance 14 non-legislative recom-mendations (NLRs), IRDA said in an order.

The non-legislative recommendations are related with consumer protection, transparency and capacity building, amongothers.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said the committee will submit its report by April-end.

The committee members include C.R. Muralidharan, G. Prabhakara, and Mathew Varghese, all ex-Members, IRDA and M.S.Sahoo, ex-Member, SEBI.

The committee will identify the gaps and possible improvements in the extant framework vis-a-vis the 14 NLR. The panelwill also suggest changes or modifications to the extant framework in compliance with the 14 NLR.

While not much progress has been made towards implementing the recommendations made in FSLRC report, which wassubmitted to the government in March last year, the Finance Ministry has called for early implementation of the non-legisla-tive proposals contained therein.

The finance ministry recently asked regulators to voluntarily implement the non-legislative recommendations of FSLRC,while issuing a ‘guidance handbook’ on this matter.

According to the guidance handbook, there are a number of recommendations in the FSLRC report which are in the natureof governance enhancing and do not require legislative changes.

IRDA sets up 9-member panel to reviewreforms commission recommendations

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The implementation of the NLR made by the FSLRC was discussed by the Financial Stability Development Council(FSDC).

In its report, the FSLRC has recommended sweeping changes to the way financial sector is regulated in the country, in-cluding in areas ranging from banking and insurance to capital markets, among others.

Source: Press Trust of India

Banks finely poised, capital is key: India RatingsBanks are expected to remain largely resilient to the cyclical downturn as increases in loan loss reserves and commonequity injections in 2014 will likely help maintain adequate defenses, a survey by India Ratings indicated.

It has suggested that these factors underline the stable outlook for the Indian banking sector for 2014, even as it con-tinues to face credit quality pressures from loan concentration, borrowers’ overleverage and the prevailing economicslowdown.

According to the survey, In a base case scenario, ROA of government banks will continue to trend 15bp-20bp lowerthan the long-term average of 0.9% — still adequate to absorb rising credit costs without impacting capital for mostbanks. “Corporate borrowers however have limited resilience to further shrinkage in profit margins. While a pick-up inreal GDP growth may improve cash flows from mid-2014, any failure in this revival and further increase in interest ratesmay result in a wave of failed restructuring that may test the profits of a broader base of government banks and some ofthe weak private banks,” it says.

India Ratings pointed out that the regulatory measures are forcing banks improve loan loss reserves on restructuredloans and exposures to corporates with large unhedged forex liabilities. These are expected to boost the total loan lossreserves (specific and general) of the banking system to over 70% of gross NPLs on a sustained basis from the currentlevel of 66%; this will also improve the cyclical resilience of banks. The removal of provisioning forbearance on restruc-tured accounts from FY16 will improve reserves further.

“Capital ratios are expected to remain intact even as profits remain weak due to continued injections by the govern-ment. The government has often reiterated its commitment to ensure that its banks are adequately capitalised underthe Basel III regime, which helps support the long-term issuer ratings of public sector banks. The government’s supportstance was proven during the 2008 global financial crisis and remains unchanged. This provides crucial comfort to cred-itors, which could weaken if the timeliness of such support is compromised,” the survey added.

Source: The Times of India

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No-frills carrier Spicejet today extendedits special fare offer and announced a 30per cent discount on tickets on domesticroutes for a limited number of seats.

SpiceJet offers a “second chance” salefor its customers who book at least 30days in advance for travel till April 15, theairline said in a release.

The bookings under the “secondchance” offer will remain open from Janu-ary 31 till February 2 midnight.

The offer is being extended following an “overwhelming” success of the private airline’s “super sale” programme an-nounced earlier, the carrier said.

Earlier this month, the budget airline had triggered a fare war by offering discounts as high as 50 per cent on domes-tic travel for a limited period to beat the March quarter blues.

The airline, however, did not share data related to increase in bookings following the earlier offer.“Under this (new) offer, all customers can get a 30 per cent discount on the already discounted 30-day advance pur-

chase base fare and fuel surcharge for SpiceJet domestic flights for travel till April 15,” the release said.The seats under this offer are, however, limited and availability depends on specific date and flight, it added.

Source: Press Trust of India

Three central ministries on January 29 joined hands to launch the world’s largest 4,000 MW ultra mega solar powerproject in Rajasthan, a statement said.

Six public sector undertakings (PSUs) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Heavy Industriesand Public Enterprises and the Ministry of Power signed a memorandum of understanding to develop and operate theproject in Sambhar area.

The PSUs are Bharat Heavy Industries Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India, Sambhar Salt Ltd, Satluj Jal Vidyut NigamLtd, Rajasthan Electronics and Instrumentation Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India.

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, a joint venture between the central and the Himachal Pradesh government, has alreadyentered the field of wind energy with the development of 47.6 MW Khirvire project in Ahmednagar district of Maharash-tra.

“Twenty-five wind power turbines of the capacity of 850 KW each have already commenced power generation,” an of-ficial said.



SpiceJet extends super discounts on airtickets, reignites fare war

Rajasthan to have world’s largest solar project

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WEEKLYECONOMIC BULLETIN >> NEWS ROUND-UP

The World Trade Organsiation (WTO) is pulling out all stops toconclude its protracted Doha round of talks by the end of thisyear, following the adoption of a package in Bali last month, a topofficial said on January 28.

“We have time up to this year-end to work on lowering tradebarriers and framing new rules to retain some in the interest ofall, as we did recently (Dec 7) for the Bali package to address con-cerns of developing countries, including India for trade facilitationand food security,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo saidon the margins of a trade meet in Bangalore.

Though the Doha round began in 2001 among the trade body’s160 members, an agreement could not be reached on removinghurdles on a binding framework of trade rules for all countries de-spite years of negotiations in the past decade.

“We think the Bali package gives boost to the system in termsof credibility and relevance. As member-countries have begun implementing its agreements, we are focusing on conclud-ing the Doha round by this year and not wait for another 12-13 years,” Azevedo said.

Delivering a keynote address at a plenary session on “Entering into a new trade era post Bali” in the three-day Confed-eration of Indian Industry (CII) partnership summit, Azevodo said the Bali round was a job half done at best for the inter-national trade body.

“The Bali agreement will infuse trade valued at $1 trillion into the global economy and generate 21 million jobs, includ-ing 18 million in developing countries. This has paved way to put the Doha round back on track and draw a roadmap to re-vive the talks,” the Brazilian diplomat said.

At the WTO ninth ministerial conference, its members agreed on a package of trade concessions, including facilitationto modernise customs procedures and provisions on agriculture.

“What we have agreed in Bali is the centrality of three things such as food security, livelihood and rural development.At the same time, the three pillars were discussed -- agriculture, non-agriculture market access and services, whichshould remain the focus of talks,” he said.

The director-general admitted that the Bali package was arrived only after India demanded and got concessions to en-sure its prime concern - food security to the poor, livelihood security and rural development.

“At Bali, we learnt that we have to be flexible, innovative and creative to break the deadlock in the Doha round of talks,”he said.

Appreciating India’s concern for food security, he said India would be a central player in finding a permanent solution infood security the world over.

Participating in the session, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said India got due recognition for its de-mands relating to agriculture, non-agricultural market access and services.

“The Bali package demonstrated that the WTO has not collapsed. As India has its commitment towards the trade body,we can do more to take it to the next level,” Sharma said.

Noting that the success of Bali ministerial had injected a new life into the Doha round of trade negotiations, he said arenewed hope was generated to conclude the Doha round as per its core development mandate.


WTO wants to conclude Doha round this year


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Asserting that the rupee is on a much stronger footing now, the Finance Ministry, on January 30 said the government andReserve Bank of India were vigilant and all steps wouldbe taken to ensure stability in financial markets in thewake of the U.S. Fed’s decision to further trim its mone-tary stimulus.

“As long as it (the value of rupee) is range-bound,which is what we believe it will be, I do not think itshould be a matter of concern. I don’t think there shouldbe a speculation on the rupee, which is backed by verystrong macroeconomic fundamentals,” Economic Af-fairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters.

The rupee in early trade was inching towards 63 to adollar on fears of capital outflows in the wake of furthertapering of bond purchase in the U.S., but the local cur-rency later recovered to end the day at 62.56.

A Finance Ministry statement said the government and the RBI will continue to remain vigilant and will take whateversteps are necessary to ensure that there is stability in financial markets.

The Finance Ministry said the U.S. Fed decision was expected, and should not in anyway surprise or affect Indian mar-kets. However, it might be noted that $65 billion was not a small sum.

The Ministry reaffirmed that the Indian economy was better prepared for consequences, if any, of the U.S. tapering.Dr. Mayaram said the economy had emerged out of the trough, and the government would rein in the fiscal deficit at

4.8 per cent of GDP in the current fiscal.The statement further said the Federal Reserve had not announced a sequential taper and had made it clear that

“asset purchases are not on a pre-set course” and that they will take “further measured steps at future meetings.”Source: The Hindu


Rupee on stronger footing: FinMin

15


India and Bangladesh are headed towards a “new and exciting” beginning in their bilateral ties, Bangladesh’s envoy TariqAhmad Karim said.

“We are trying to re-discover and re-connect to our historical ties, although history and colonial legacy intervened. De-spite this, we are headed towards a new beginning,” Karim told journalists after meeting Meghalaya Chief Minister MukulSangma in Shillong.

The Bangladesh envoy also announced a slew of new initiatives in trade and commerce besides bilateral exchanges tobring the two countries closer.

One initiative is the proposed construction of national highway 127B that would begin from North Bengal, touchBhutan, Dhubri (Assam), Dalu (Meghalaya), Narayanganj (Bangladesh) and end at Chittagong port in Bangladesh.

“Talks are on to restart the inland waterway service between the two countries that was an important route for tradeand commerce before Partition,” he said.

“We need to upscale our trade and commerce besides connectivity. We are once again thinking in terms of connectivityalong the Brahmaputra basin because river transportation has a beneficial effect on the environment over rail and road.”

He said air service between India’s northeast and Bangladesh would get a fillip after Bangladesh Biman agreed to flytwice a week between Guwahati and Dhaka from July this year.

“Initially, Bangladesh Biman would be operating two ATR aircraft and then there is a plan to move to the 727s,” headded.

Disclosing that Shillong-Sylhet-Dhaka bus service is in the final stages of approval, Karim said talks regarding it begansome years back.

On Meghalaya’s proposal for opening up of 22 more border “haats” (bazars), he said, “My government is overseeingthat such proposal is practically feasible to create space so other states follow suit.”

The “haats”, once thriving centres of trade and commerce, were shut down after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.Meghalaya has two border “haats” - one at Kalaichar in the state’s West Garo Hills district and Baliamari of Bangladesh’sKurigram district, and another in Balat (East Khasi Hills district) and Lauwaghar (Dalora) in Sunamganj district of theneighbouring country.

These “haats” are aimed to uplift the economic status of people by establishing the traditional system of marketing oflocal produce.


India, Bangladesh heading for exciting beginning: Envoy


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