Jairam Ramesh to lead delegation to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan

New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh is leading a multi-sectoral delegation to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan for a week from tomorrow, boosting bilateral economic relationships covering both investment and trade.

According to an official release issued here today, Mr Ramesh will sign the first-ever agreement with Azerbaijan for establishing the India-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation. Along with the Managing Director of ONGC Videsh, he will also pursue India's interests for oil and gas exploration in Azerbaijan. ONGC Videsh has identified some promising prospects which it would like to develop.

Azerbaijan have re-emerged as a major oil-rich country with the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that links Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and is the world's second longest oil pipeline connecting rich Caspian Sea oil reserves with the Mediterranean Sea.

Senior officials from MMTC and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) are accompanying Mr Ramesh to explore the possibilities of entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the mineral sector with Azerbaijan.

BHEL has executed a major project for the supply and installation of power generators. Indian pharmaceutical companies are also building their presence in Azerbaijan. The Minister's visit is expected to give a fillip to these efforts.

In Tashkent, Mr Ramesh will chair the seventh session of the India-Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Commission. Accompanied by senior officials of GAIL, Ministry of Petroleum&National Gas, he will pursue with the Uzbek government the projects identified by GAIL for investment in Uzbekistan in petrochemicals, LPG and city gas distribution.

In addition, GAIL has identified four natural gas exploration and production blocks in Uzbekistan on which it would like to move forward. ONGC Videsh is also interested in investing in gas fields in the country.

In addition, Mr Ramesh will review the status of implementation of the MoU signed in November 2006 between the Uzbekistan and the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (TEXPROCIL) for enhancing cooperation in the cotton textile sector.

The public sector State Trading Corporation is also exploring a ten-million-dollar investment in the nation for cotton-seed processing. Spentex, a private company of India, has already acquired two cotton-spinning factories in Uzbekistan, investing close to 80 million dollars.

Accompanied by senior officials of MMTC and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Mr Ramesh will also explore opportunities of intensified cooperation in gold.

Uzbekistan has the fourth largest gold reserves in the world and India is the world's largest importer of gold( 700-800 tonnes per year).

UNI