Monday, February 20, 2006

India, France ink pact on civil nuclear cooperation, defence

India and France today signed nine bilateral agreements, including one on nuclear energy, cooperation in the defence sector and strategic partnership in the fields of economy, education, research and tourism.
The two countries also reiterated their commitment to intensify the exchange of high-level bilateral visits and consultation in various areas of interaction to reinforce comprehensive strategic partnership.
The landmark deal on the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was signed by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and French Foreign Minister Philippedouste Blazy in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Jacques Chirac.
The agreement on defence cooperation was signed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie.
In a joint statement, both the countries said the this agreement was an important element of the strategic partnership, and would build and expand the existing cooperation in defence and military fields, defence industry, production, procurement, research and development of defence material, joint exercises, professional exchanges and training.
The French President had earlier stated at a joint press conference with Singh that his country was ready to help India in developing civilian nuclear energy. “Our support to India is principled. It needs to develop its energy sector to unlock its economic and developmental potential,” he said.
Chirac added that India’s record on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was in its favour and this encouraged France to come forward on the declaration.
He also made it a point to say France’s support to India on these issues was not contingent upon economic agreements. “We are supportive of India’s attempts at civilian nuclear power, and we do not foresee any problems with regard to any fallout on the world at large,” he said.
Taking to reporters here after the signing of the deals, Prime Minister Singh said that “there existed untapped potential” for economic cooperation between the two countries and asked French companies to take advantage of India’s rapid economic growth and science and technology potential.
Singh added that both countries had pledged to double bilateral trade within five years and had identified infrastructure, IT, pharmaceuticals, environment, advanced and new technologies, food processing, automobiles and aeronautics as priority sectors for forging business partnerships.
Small and medium enterprises have an important role to play in this regard and the two governments have decided to take specific actions to enhance cooperation between enterprises, with a particular focus on SMEs. The two governments would initiate a dialogue on the possible areas of cooperation in the field of Intellectual Property Rights, the joint statement added.
Following the talks PM Singh and President Chirac, Airbus Industrie and Indian Airlines today signed an agreement for purchase of 43 aircraft for the national air carrier at a cost of $2 billion.
In a move that would be a major boost to tourism, the two countries also signed an agreement to promote each other’s destinations and share market research for this purpose. The MoU was between tourism minister Ambika Soni and visiting French Minister for tourism Leon Bertrand.
Both sides re-iterated the importance of the Strategic Partnership between India and the European Union and agreed to work together in further enhancing ties through the mechanism of the Joint India-EU Action Plan. They also agreed for closer cooperation in the space sector.

posted by Kams @ 7:31 PM 0 comments

Sunday, February 19, 2006

India, France to sign agreements in defence, aerospace sectors

INDIA and France are set to sign a host of agreements in a variety of fields including defence and aerospace during the three-day visit of the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, which began on Sunday.

The French President, who arrived from Thailand, is accompanied by a high-powered delegation that includes the Foreign Minister, Mr Philippe Douste-Blazy, the Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry, Mr Thierry Breton, and the Chief Executive Officers of about 30 French companies.

Among the agreements likely to be signed include a declaration on the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and an agreement on defence cooperation.

In addition, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Antrix is expected to sign a contract with EADS Astrium to jointly build a satellite for Eutelsat.

Besides, MoUs on cooperation between IIM Ahmedabad and ESSEC (École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales) and BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency), Ministry of Power and AEDEME (Agence de l' Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l' Energie) and on tourism cooperation are also likely to be signed.

In addition, the contract of State-owned carrier, Indian Airlines, for the purchase of 43 Airbus aircraft could also be initialled during the visit.

France is an important trade and investment partner of India and both countries have agreed to make efforts to double bilateral trade in five years from the present level of euro 3.5 billion.

Mr Chirac's visit follows closely the visit of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to France last September.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher Airlines, has announced that it is to purchase 15 French made ATR 72-500 aircraft.

In a statement, the aircraft manufacturer has said that the airline has decided to convert the 15 options it had placed for the ATR aircraft in November last year into a firm order. In addition, the airline announced that it is also looking at picking up another 20 ATR aircraft.

The contract, excluding the 20 optional aircraft that the airline may acquire, is valued at $270 million. The delivery of the 15 aircraft is scheduled to begin from next year.

Source: Hindu Businessline

posted by Kams @ 7:48 PM 0 comments

Indo-France bilateral trade to touch 10 bn euros by 2010

New Delhi, Feb 19: The official visit of French President Jacques Chirac to India will give boost to two-way trade between the two countries which is expected to exceed 10 billion euros by 2010 compared to 3.6 billion euros in 2005, according to ASSOCHAM.

"Indo-French bilateral trade went up by around 80 per cent between 1995 and 2004 and touched the figure of euro 3.64 billion in March 2005," the Chamber said, adding that the same "will exceed 10 billion euros by 2010".

The global French trade in 2005 was 800 billion euros, out of which the Indo-French trade was only 0.51 per cent, ASSOCHAM said in a release.

"Although there is a good impression about France in India, India's trade presence in France is far from being significant," it said.

India doesn't emerge in the list of top 10 investing countries in France, the Chamber said, adding that a huge potential market still remains untapped which would be explored with the official visit of French President to India.

In the paper brought out on 'India-France Economic Partnership', the chamber has highlighted that the major areas for joint cooperation between the two countries will be aeronautical and space, construction products, IT, thermonuclear energy, tourism, agriculture, electrical equipment and organic chemical products.

"India and IT are synonymous as France and wine is. The Indian IT, software and services sector is on track to achieve its target aspiration of USD 77 billion (excluding e-commerce transactions of USD 10 billion)," ASSOCHAM President Anil K Agarwal said while releasing the paper.

According to Chamber estimates, Indian exports of software services to France are still at a low level and a huge potential remains open for the Indian software industry.

"This is despite Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) having a partnership with a French company in France", it said adding Wipro is opening its own representative office in Paris.

Satyam Infoway is also looking for business opportunities and new Indian companies like Netkraft Private, Technova Information Systems are gaining a preliminary foothold in the French market," ASSOCHAM said.

According to the findings of the paper, Indian pharmacy, IT and automobile firms have evinced interest in investing in France as the domestic companies in these sectors are keen on acquiring existing business or setting up JVS in France.

"The emerging trend in India is that corporates are trying to be closer to their overseas markets through strategic acquisitions. They want to leverage on the low-cost manufacturing capabilities through outsourcing," it said.

Stating that many French companies have gained a foothold in the Indian IT market, it said that in the telecom sector, France has a strong representation through investments made by Alcatel in Gurgaon, Bangalore and Chennai, and France telecom in Mumbai through a partnership with BPL Mobile.

In multimedia industry, Thomson Multimedia has opened a subsidiary in Chennai and has a significant market share in tubes for the color TV industry in India, the paper said.

In the road sector, France appears to have a pioneering experience in India with the widening of the road network to four-lane (60 km pathway between Delhi and Jaipur) executed by the big French company GTME in 1997.

The French companies expertise in railways has also been recognised in India through its high participation in the "Delhi metro project e-transaction group", the release said.

The French presence in consumer goods covers a diverse range of activities such as perfumes and cosmetics, tableware and home decoration products as well as fashion accessories.

Brands such as Verrerie Cristallerie D'arques, Baccarat, Lalique and Daum, which are ranked amongst the top crystal ware companies in the world, today adorn Indian homes, it said.

A large number of world-famous perfume and cosmetic brands such as L’Oreal, Clarins, Vichy, Christian Dior, Nina Ricci are also available in the Indian market.

The Chamber feels that sectors like automotive industry, aviation, construction & engineering, food processing, retail sector and textile industry have huge untapped potential.

"French investments in these sectors can generate billions of dollars over next 5 to 10 years," the paper concluded.

Source: Zee News

posted by Kams @ 7:42 PM 0 comments