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GCC, India near FTA deal
India and the Gulf Cooperation Council are working to finalise a free trade agreement which will further boost bilateral ties, according to the Press Trust of India.
The Indian Ambassador to Bahrain, Balkrishna Shetty said "Negotiations concerning the GCC and India Free Trade Agreement are expected to be finalized by the end of the year and the agreement to be signed by early next year.”
"Bahrain is keen to have this agreement and if there are hold ups, the country will go ahead with this," he added, speaking at a meeting in Manama.
Bilateral trade volume between India and Bahrain last year was $532.08 million compared to $343.59 million five years ago.
According to Shetty, more Indian investors were seeking business opportunities in Bahrain to take advantage of its FTA with the US.
"Bahrain is the only country in the Gulf that has an FTA with the US. So, Indian companies are coming here to gain access to the US market," he said.
According to Gulf Daily News Shetty described the the Kingdom as the most liberal country in the Gulf region, saying "Bahrain can be a hub for us (India) in the Gulf and the Middle East. There are many opportunities for joint ventures between India and Bahrain"
Tie-ups are possible in manufacturing, services, education, training, infrastructure projects, aluminium, petrochemicals, information technology, tourism and healthcare, he said
In 2006, India's oil imports from Bahrain were valued at $237.58 million and non-oil imports at $ 158.67 million.
Shetty said Bahrain's business community would also do well by investing in India because the returns are high and the risks are low and suggested that investors should look to put their money into real estate, raw infrastructure, food processing and pharmaceuticals.
As a group, the GCC is India's second largest trading partner and the largest single origin of imports into India and the second largest destination for exports from India.
Bilateral trade between the two sides rose to nearly $25 billion in 2006, excluding energy imports by India worth approximately another $22 billion.
The UAE emerged as the single largest investor in India among the GCC countries, accounting for nearly 79 per cent of the total inflow from the region, followed by Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
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