Indo-German trade to cross 20 bn euros by 2012

New Delhi, Sept 16: The Indo-German bilateral trade will cross 20 billion euro mark in the next five years on account of new level of economic engagement and stronger B2B ties between the two countries, a Ficci-KPMG paper said.

However, companies from both the countries continue to grapple with non-tariff barriers and unreasonable requirements relating to investments, the paper said.

The Indian regulation is mired in bureaucracy relating to excessive documentation, continuous audits by different government agencies, lack of transparency in classification of products and services impeding clarity on their importability and taxability and administrative burden of loading value-added taxes under several different classifications.

''While expansion of the domestic industry in the two countries can not be undermined, it is also essential for them to invest in complementary cross-border opportunities,'' it added.

The paper notes that given the surge in bilateral investment between India and Germany, the cross-border trade is expected to grow faster and may well surpass 20 billion euro from the current 10 billion euro by 2012.

Besides traditional sectors such as engineering, automotives, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, there are several other new areas that both countries can cooperate in including infrastructure, construction, logistics, transportation, renewable energy, nanotechnology, biotechnology, retail, financial services and defence.

The primary reasons for doing business with India include its robust and sustainable gross domestic product (GDP) and FDI growth.

UNI