Latin American, Carribean nations keen for tie up with Punjab

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (UNI) An 11-member delegation of Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Latin American and Carbibean countries view Punjab as a major destination for foreign investments.

The delegation, consisting of the Amabassadors and High Commissioners of Argentina, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Dominican Republic, expressed these views at a meeting with the Punjab Chief Secretary R I Singh here yesterday.

The delegation, led by Mrs Melina Santana Ramirez, Ambassador of Venezuela, described Punjab an affluent state in India, which had tremendous potential of coming up as an ideal avenue for exploring foreign investments.

They also said that their first ever visit to the state capital was a part of a larger initiative to build political ties between India and Latin America as a region. During this exploratory visit, possibilities of collaboration in agriculture and agricultural research, information technology and pharmaceuticals, as also investments by the people of Punjab in Latin America, were assessed.

Issues related to foreign direct investments by Latin Americans in Punjab were also discussed at length.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Singh said that the state had a unique distinction of having a single window system for giving clearance to various schemes including multi-dimensional mega projects. The state being a pre-dominantly agricultural economy, continues to be the food bowl of India, the Chief Secretary said at the meeting.

He further added a large number of multinational companies had their manufacturing base in Punjab. The state is currently in the process of setting up various integrated townships with residential and commercial sites with the help of Dubai, America, UK and Germany based companies, he said.

UNI