Speeches / Statements

Address by EAM at India-Africa Business Partnership Summit

19/01/2009

(19th January 2009, Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi)

Your Excellency, Hon’ble Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda and Chairman of the East African Community

Distinguished Ministers from Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Mali, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda and Eretria

My Colleague, Shri Jairam Ramesh

Shri Nalin Surie, Secretary(West), Ministry of External Affairs

Shri Hardeep Puri, Secretary(Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs

Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI

Delegates from Africa, Captains of Industry

Distinguished Guests, Media representatives

Ladies & Gentlemen:

In any gathering with delegates from Africa, I cannot, but admit, the feeling that it is a meeting of old friends!

I extend a very warm welcome to you all and extend my very best wishes for 2009. May the New Year spread peace, prosperity and goodwill and fulfill all your aspirations.

Excellencies & Ladies and Gentlemen, it is less than a year since we had the privilege to host the India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi. It was an occasion to celebrate our friendship and renew our commitment to the great continent of Africa. The Delhi Declaration and the Africa- India Framework for Cooperation adopted at the Summit now serve as the contours for our systematic engagement in the coming years.

India’s ties with Africa are historic. Trade across the Indian Ocean has linked us for hundreds of years. We were fellow victims of colonialism in the 19th and 20th century. We inspired each other in the resolve to resist and defeat the forces of imperialism. Our shared kinship rejoiced every time a blow was struck by the Afro-Asian liberation movement. We have seen and shared a difficult past. It is only natural if we now choose to consolidate national gains and work together towards a prosperous future.

Excellencies, India and Africa are old civilizations but young nations learning as we grow. Today the Indian economy is over a trillion dollars with key strengths in the services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. We have also made some advances in the core areas of health and education. Capacity building and human resources development in fact, have always been central to our cooperation with Africa since our independence. Success credited to us in economic growth and development areas is, as always, available for sharing with friends in Africa, within the limits of our capacities and capabilities. Our commitment to Africa is total and we look forward to a close partnership with Africa in its economic resurgence.

I would like to congratulate Dr. Mitra and his colleagues in FICCI for organizing this important Business Summit. Our appreciation also goes out to our distinguished guests and delegates from Africa for responding in fulsome measure to this event. I would also like to acknowledge the gracious presence of our very special guest, the President of Rwanda. Friends, a packed programme awaits you. I am pleased to see that sectors at the core of economic development and growth including – Railways, Road and Construction; Healthcare and Pharma; ICT; Power; Mining; and, Agriculture - have been carefully identified and selected for this summit.

For this to happen, trade, tariff and investment impediments will have to be vacated in a hurry. In this context, and as announced earlier, our “Duty-free preference scheme” for the Least Developed Countries, 34 of which are African countries, covers 94% of India’s total tariff lines. It is also our commitment to more than double the amount on Lines of Credit to US$ 5.4 billion for the five-year period beginning 2008-09. US$ 500 million will also be provided over the next 5 to 6 years for projects in critical areas from the ‘Aid to Africa’ budget.

Ladies & Gentlemen, economic and commercial ties between India and Africa are not new. These exchanges have been ongoing for centuries across the Indian Ocean, and have benefited peoples from both sides. With positive changes and sustained economic development in both India and Africa, this economic and commercial interaction has diversified and deepened since the later part of the 20th century. Bilateral trade has grown from a small 5 billion dollars in 2001-02 to around 30 billion dollars presently, a six-fold growth. Investment levels have also increased across a wide range of sectors such as agriculture, small scale industry, mining, ICT, oil pipelines, automotive plants, chemical industry, power generation and transmission etc.. You will agree, however, that these existing trade and investment levels do not reflect the true potential. Less than 8% of India’s exports are destined for Africa. Our imports from Africa are also around the same proportion of our global imports. After Asia, Africa is the second fastest growing region. We have signed trade agreements with almost 30 countries in Africa. I, therefore, call upon Indian and African business partners to step up their business engagements. Indian companies should accelerate their investments and technical tie-ups with African partners. Cost-effective and intermediate Indian technologies and our large human capital base give us a unique advantage.

The infrastructure needs of Africa are enormous. These also present good opportunities for Indian businesses, as do the growing demands in Africa for new technologies, engineering services and manufacturing capabilities for local value addition. There are millions of young people in Africa who can be employed in the manufacturing and services sectors. The communities of Indian origin in many parts of Africa are also an added advantage.

An important area of cooperation between India and Africa has been agriculture and food security. The India Africa Forum Summit laid a special emphasis on this sector. The Declaration of the India-Africa Framework for Cooperation involves programmes for agriculture. These include irrigation projects, opening up new lands for cultivation, exchange of seeds, technology, food processing, live stock development, water management, measures to confront the growing threat of climate change, capacity building and fisheries. Some Indian companies have already begun to explore opportunities in Africa in the production of pulses, cereals and oilseeds. I am confident that more will do so in collaboration with African enterprises and Governments. A number of Lines of Credit have already been extended by us for the agriculture sector. These should provide opportunities to Indian and African partners to undertake projects which will be of direct benefit to farming communities.

We are also exploring possibilities of comprehensive economic cooperation agreements with the Common Market of Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). We are, therefore, specially delighted and honoured to have among us today, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who is also the current Chairperson of the East African Community.

A draft framework agreement was recently initialed in Delhi for a Preferential Trading Arrangement with the South African Customs Union (SACU). With the South African Development Community (SADC), we are developing projects in a number of sectors.



These are fast changing times. In less than six months, a severe global financial crisis has morphed into global economic meltdown which may not have fully unraveled as yet. The repercussions are undoubtedly severe. While the crisis began in the West, the developing countries cannot remain unscathed. . Estimates are that global growth and trade may grow at the slowest in over two decades. The financial regulatory framework in many countries will change as will economic expectations. It is no surprise that the model of international financial governance has also come into question.

The current crisis brings out global interconnectedness. India has over the last few years grown at about 9 percent per year which gave us the distinction of being the world’s second fastest growing major economy of the world. Our economy is also exposed to the global market, and will therefore, not escape some slowdown. We are, however, better positioned to withstand the worst. Our economic fundamentals are principally domestic demand, domestic savings and investments. Indeed, India is one of the world’s safest markets. We are confident that a 7 percent growth is not beyond us this year and that it shall not be long before we fully regain our growth momentum. We see our growth and development as an open opportunity for mutual gains with our African associates.

Friends, India-Africa relations have always been multi-focused, cutting across many international issues and challenges. It is our desire that on crucial global concerns like climate change, food and energy security, health, jihadist terrorism, marine piracy and democratization of international institutions we continue to enhance our cooperation and dialogue.

In conclusion, let me extend my very best wishes for a productive Summit. May the ensuing two-days of deliberations and business engagements give wing to our bilateral commercial ties.

I wish the India-Africa Business Partnership Summit all success. Jai Hind!