India-Germany trade poised to cross 10 bn Euros

Hannover, Apr 23: India and Germany are poised to double bilateral trade to 10 million Euros from 5 billion Euros in 2004 by 2008, thus giving an unprecedented push to trade and economic relations between the two countries.

During his visit to India in 2004, then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed satisfaction over the increase in bilateral trade but emphasised that there was scope for enhancing it further.

The two leaders had pledged to double the bilateral trade of 5 billion Euros by 2010.

However, Indian officials said the target would possibly be achieved by 2008, if the current trend was an indicator. German analysts expect 2006 to be a successful year for the Indo- German trade, especially since India is the partner country at the Hannover Fair, the largest technology trade exhibition in the world.

Germany is the 6th largest foreign investor in India. Nearly 1600 Indo-German joint ventures are presently in operation. The largest collaborations are in the field of machinery and parts, followed by heavy vehicles, chemicals, technical consultancy, services, computers and electrical appliances.

Germany's leading news magazine 'Der Spiegel' had recently cited India as No. 1 destination for offshore development by German software companies.

The Deutsche Bank, in its 2006 Global Strategy Report, also identified India as the No. 1 destination.

There is now a growing trend of Indian investments in Germany, many of them in IT, automotive and pharmaceutical sectors.

UNI

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