India invites Norway to invest in SEZs

New Delhi, Nov 2: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath today invited Norway to invest in India's upcoming Special Economic Zones (SEZs) ''which were particularly suitable for small and medium enterprises.''

Speaking in a seminar on ''India-Norway Business Cooperation'' here Mr Nath said, ''The concept of SEZ is universal. However, the Indian version of it incorporates facilities and liberal incentives of the best type to developers. The uniqueness of SEZ is its suitability for SMEs, wherein authorities provide all clearances in one place.''

He also asked the investors to ''have a serious look on this route of investment.'' Referring to the bilateral trade between India and Norway, the Minister termed it insignificant. He pointed out the bilateral trade between the two countries was up from 102 million dollars in 2001 to 419 million dollars in 2005.

''The traditional basket of Indian exports to Norway mainly consists of textiles and garments. This must change to reflect the emerging areas of cooperation in several other sectors like pharma, light engineering goods, handicraft and food items,'' he said.

During the seminar, Union Power Minster Sushilkumar Shinde sought cooperation between India and Norway in the areas of hydro power, telecommunication, shipping and machinery.

He said hydro was one area which offered immense opportunities for collaboration between the two countries and the visit of the Norway delegation to India would lend gains to it.

Addressing the gathering, the Crown Prince of Norway Mr Haakon sought deepening of trade, economic and political ties between his country and that of India so that faster growth takes place for further strengthening trade and commercial ties of Norway and India.

''There is no doubt that India's political and economic weight is increasing both locally, regionally and globally. India's economic growth over the past 10 years has been impressive. And all evidence suggests that this growth is continuing well into the future,'' he said.

For Norwegian companies and companies all over the world, India is quickly becoming a market that represents enormous opportunities and promise, he added.

UNI

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