Pact soon with the US on trade, investment, says Anand Sharma

New Delhi, Oct 27 (ANI): Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma has said that India and the United States would soon sign an agreement to enhance trade and investment between the two countries.

Sharma met United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk here on Monday for the 6th ministerial-level meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF).

Calling the Forum meeting "satisfactory", Sharma said that officials of the two countries would meet twice a year to complete the remaining task of the Trade Policy Forum, formed in 2005 to discuss trade and investment issues between the two nations.

He said that the two sides were negotiating an agreement on Intellectual Property Rights and sharing of traditional knowledge digital library.

"The US side has given a draft and we have agreed to formalise a framework of cooperation on trade and investment between India and the United States of America very soon. We also proposed to have an agreement on intellectual property cooperation and also an agreement on traditional knowledge digital library," said Sharma.

Trade between the two countries had doubled in the last three years. India's exports to the United States were at 20.7 billion dollars or 12.7 percent of its total exports in 2007/08, while imports were at 21 billion dollars.

U.S. firms invested 32 billion dollars in India between April 2000 and July 2009, which is eight percent of India's total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, according to Indian government data.

He further said that India is committed to a successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade talks.

"The ongoing negotiations, the core agenda is development and we are committed to the successful conclusion which will facilitate putting in place a rule-based multilateral trade regime which is fair, which is equitable, which addresses the legitimate aspirations of the poor and the developing countries and those issues are being discussed in Geneva," he added. (ANI)