Suriname invites Indian firms in LAC countries

Chennai, July 31: Ambassador of Suriname in India, K Bajnath has invited Indian firms to invest in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.

Speaking at a seminar on ''India-Latin America and Caribbean: Scaling New Business Horizons,'' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Mr Bajnath said India, already has partnership with Brazil in research and development and production of bio-fuel.

This partnership could be extended to other countries in LAC region. It should include renewable sources of energy like bio-fuels and hydro power, apart from traditional sources.

He said India should further leverage LAC partnership to gain access to oil, minerals, forestry and agriculture resources of the LAC region, as well as its literate population that make them ideal platform to promote joint ventures in service sector, especially tourism and information technology.

Pointing out the opportunities that exist for Tamil Nadu enterprises in areas of agriculture, especially on floriculture and horticulture front, he pointed out that a professor from Coimbatore had recently conducted a research on cashew cultivation in Suriname on a pilot basis.

Khalid Jamal, Director, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said India's bilateral trade with Latin American countries had increased from one billion dollars in 1996-97 to 5.6 billion dollars in 2005-06, registering a growth of over 440 per cent in a decade.

Despite the high growth rates and increasing share, India's export constituted a miniscule part of the total imports of the region.

While the global imports of the LAC region was 526 billion dollars in 2005, India's export share was only 0.5 per cent of the region's imports.

''We need to work for a larger slice of the cake,'' Mr Jamal said adding that the macro economic fundamentals were becoming strong and healthy.

UNI