India, Africa Trade Target Pegged At $75 Billion .

India and Africa have set a trade target $75 billion by 2015 on the back of increasing economic engagement between the two sides.

“The trade target is to reach $75 billion by 2015. I am sure, we will reach it before that,” Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Monday even as visiting Mozambique’s Prime Minister Aires Bonifacio Baptista Ali invited Indian Inc to participate in the economic resurgence of Africa.

Inaugurating a conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership “Creating Possibilities: Delivering Value”, organised jointly by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Exim Bank here, Sharma said noted that the India-Africa relationship and economic cooperation will be a defining element of the 21st century.

The current trade volume between India and Africa stood at $45 billion.

“...Indeed, we would like to reiterate our warm invitation to all Indian business people to make huge investments in Africa, and join our efforts geared to boost and diversify our economies, thus contributing to African development,” Baptista Ali said in his special address to the India-Africa Conclave.

Two lines of credit were signed at the end of the inaugural session - $20 million for Mozambique and $36 million for Tanzania.

Sharma also pointed out how Indian pharmaceutical companies had been able to reduce the price of HIV anti-retroviral drugs from $11,000 to just $400, even as they faced challenges, legal and otherwise, from global cartels.

Source : expressbuzz.com