THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (DR. D. PURANDESWARI)
(a) The details of the bilateral trade carried out between India and Egypt during each of
the last three years and the current year is given below:-
As on 21/8/2013
Value: US $ Millions
Sl. No. Particulars 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 (Apr-Mar) (Apr-Mar) (Apr-Mar) (Apr-Jun)
1. EXPORT 1,982.43 2,421.89 2,897.33 542.32
2. % Growth 41.21 22.17 19.63 -
3. IMPORT 1,354.56 3,002.40 2,553.47 755.98
4. % Growth -19.96 121.65 -14.95 -
5. TOTAL TRADE 3,336.98 5,424.29 5,450.80 1,298.30
6. % Growth 7.78 62.55 0.49 -
Source: DGCIS
(b) During the first meeting of the Joint Egypt-India Trade Committee held in Cairo on
10th March, 2013 the two sides agreed to work towards the target of achieving a total trade
of US$ 8 billion by 31st March, 2016. Towards this end, various steps have been taken, some
of which are listed below:-
# Five Joint Study Groups (JSGs) on Trade, Standardization and origin issues, Industrial
Cooperation & SMEs, Pharmaceuticals, and Agriculture have been set up.
# The Joint Business Council (JBC) mechanism has been activated with the last meeting
of the JBC being held during the visit of President of Egypt to India in March, 2013.
# A technical file of Indian wheat has been submitted to Egyptian authorities to pave a
way for exports of Indian wheat to Egypt. Also cooperation in the field of Fertilizer is being
explored
# Multi-sectoral as well as sector specific Trade Fairs are being organized in Egypt.
With fairs in the area of pharmaceuticals and textiles having been planned in 2014.
(c) & (d) The first Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) Economic
and Business Conference was held on 4-5 July, 2013, in Mauritius. Text of the statement issued
at the end of the conference is attached.
(e) In the 7th Commerce Secretary level talks with Pakistan held on 20-21 September, 2012 at
Islamabad, both countries appreciated that better trading opportunities provided through land
route would enhance mutual prosperity of the business communities and consumers on both sides
of the border. It was also, noted that there is need to further strengthen infrastructure on
both sides and to resolve all the issues through mutual cooperation, harmonization of customs
procedures, provision of laboratory facilities, scanners, weigh bridges, cold houses,
containerized services and automation of the business processes. The need for more trade
traffic to be carried through the Railways was also emphasized.
