1990 January Volume No XXXVI NO 1 1995 CONTENTS Foreign Affairs Record VOL XXXVI No 1 January, 1990 CONTENTS AUSTRALIA Australia for increased Bilateral Cooperation with India in Agriculture 1 BANGLADESH India to Supply Portable Steel Bridges to Bangladesh 1 BELGIUM Belgium to Delink Credit to Specific Proposals 2 CANADA First Ever Seminar-cum-Workshop on Market- ing of Consumer Goods in Canada 2 CYPRUS Indian Tea Launched in Cyprus 4 CZECHOSLOVAKIA Indo-Czech Trade Projected at Rs. 731 crores Trade Protocol for 1990 Signed 4 DANISH Danish Trade Unions Call on Labour Minister 5 EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY India Foregoes EEC Dairy Food Aid 6 FRANCE Joint Communique on Indo-French Coopera- tion in the Field of Water Management 7 Indo-French Cooperation in Civil Aviation and Energy 8 Indo-French Cooperation in Agriculture to Expand to New Areas 8 Indo-French Working Group Meeting on Mineral Exploration 9 Indo-French Cooperation in Food Processing Sector 9 FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Rs. 95 Crore FRG Grant to India 10 Delhi to Host Ninth Indo-FRG Joint Commis- sion Meet 10 INDONESIA India, Indonesia to Discuss Bilateral Trade 11 MAURITIUS Indo-Mauritian Science and Technology Agree- ment Signed 12 NEPAL Indo-Nepalese Cooperation in Energy and Civil Aviation 12 Joint Press Statement 13 Speech by External Affairs Minister at the Dinner in Honour of the Nepalese Foreign Minister - January 3, 1990 14 OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN'S STATEMENTS Sri Lanka 16 Joint Press Release 16 Pakistan 17 French Prime Minister's Visit to India - 18th-19th January 1990 20 French Prime Minister's Visit 21 United States of America 22 PAKISTAN Pakistan's Delegation calls on Shri Nilamani Routray 22 UNITED KINGDOM British High Commissioner calls on Deputy Prime Minister 23 UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS Agreement for Bilateral Exchange of Films between India and Soviet Union 24 Indo-Soviet Exhibition on Power Metallurgy 24 Indo-Soviet Cooperation in Chemicals Industries 25 Indo-USSR Protocol on Chemical Industry 25 YEMEN India to Step up Trade with Yemen - Indo- Yemen Joint Panel Meeting Ends 26 STRALIA USA INDIA BANGLADESH BELGIUM CANADA CYPRUS NORWAY SLOVAKIA FRANCE GERMANY INDONESIA MAURITIUS NEPAL SRI LANKA PAKISTAN YEMEN Date : Jan 01, 1990 Volume No XXXVI NO 1 1995 AUSTRALIA Australia for increased Bilateral Cooperation with India in Agriculture The following is the text of press release issued in New Delhi on Jan 31, 1990 on Australian bilateral cooperation with India: Australia has expressed the hope that the Indian Government's emphasis on agriculture would result in increased cooperation between the two countries in agriculture and allied sectors. This was stated by the Australian High Commissioner, H.E. Mr. G. B. Feaks at a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister & Agriculture Minister, Shri Devi Lal here today. The two sides had a wide exchange of views on animal husbandry, horticulture, dry-land agriculture and irrigation. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed keen interest in Australia's expertise in dry-land agriculture and sheep farming. The High Commissioner has called for further consolidation of Indo-Australian relations with more substance by way of bilateral cooperation. He apprised Shri Devi Lal of the agricultural situation in Australia. The Deputy Prime Minister will be leading an Indian delegation to Cooperative Ministers' conference organised by the International Cooperative Alliance in Sydney from February 8-11, 1990. He would be discussing the cooperative structures in Australia besides exploring further cooperation in Animal Husbandry, Horticulture and Agricultural Research. STRALIA USA INDIA LATVIA Date : Jan 31, 1990 Volume No XXXVI NO 1 1995 BANGLADESH India to Supply Portable Steel Bridges to Bangladesh The following is the text of press release issued in New Delhi on Jan 24, 1990 on Indian supply of portable bridges to Bangladesh: The Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON), a public sector unit under the Ministry of Railways, has bagged a contract for supply of Portable Steel Bridges to the Roads and Highways Department, Government of Bangladesh. The order valued at 2.12 million US dollars will be executed within four months. This contract has been won by IRCON against a very stiff international competition from established suppliers of advanced countries. Under this contract, IRCON will supply the latest state-of-art technology by adopting the "Quadricon System". Extensive -1> testing of this new technology was organised by IRCON at the Centre for Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems at Lehigh University, USA to establish the viability of the new product in the international arena. NGLADESH INDIA USA Date : Jan 24, 1990 Volume No XXXVI NO 1 1995 BELGIUM Belgium to Delink Credit to Specific Proposals The following is the text of press release issued in New Delhi on Jan 31, 1990 on Belgium delinking credit to specific proposals: Belgium will delink credit to the specific import proposals. This was clarified in a meeting between the Union Finance Minister, Prof. Madhu Dandavate and the Belgium Ambassador in India, Mr. A. Kamiel Criel, here today. Expressing happiness over delinking of credit to the specific proposals, Prof. Dandavate hoped that this would result in the loan becoming a capital goods credit line and would expedite the utilisation. The Finance Minister said that India will activate monitoring arrangements in order to verify that foreign assistance to different projects is timely utilised. The monitoring will reduce gestation period and will help in preventing escalation of project cost, he felt. India will also improve the infrastructural facilities in this regard, the Minister said. Presently, Belguim is extending loan assistance to India on mixed financing pattern with soft and commercial loans in the proportion of 40:60 respectively. Soft loan is interest free and repayable over a period of 30 years including 10 years grace period. Commercial credit is on OECD concensus rate. LGIUM INDIA USA Date : Jan 31, 1990 Volume No XXXVI NO 1 1995 CANADA First Ever Seminar-cum-Workshop on Marketing of Consumer Goodsin Canada The following is the text of press release issued in New Delhi on Jan 29, 1990 on seminar cum-workshop on marketing of consumer goods in Canada: The first ever Seminar-cum-Workshop on marketing of consumer goods in Canada was inaugurated by Shri K. N. Ardhanareeswaran, Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, here today. Speaking on the occasion he said that India's exports to Canada have been on a low scale mainly because of some short comings in the marketing efforts, more than the -2> products as such. A possible reason, he said, could be lack of awareness among the Canadian business circles and the consumers about availability of quality products from India. The bilateral trade between India and Canada has been traditionally in favour of Canada. During the year 1988-89, India's exports to Canada were Rs. 197 crores as against the imports of Rs. 427 crores which indicates a balance of trade in favour of Canada to the extent of Rs. 230 crores. Although the exports to Canada rose by 16 per cent, imports were up by 41 per cent in 1988-89 as compared to the previous year 1987-88. Canada's global imports during 1988 were 131 billion Canadian dollars of which India's share was just 205 million Canadian dollars - less than 0.2 per cent. Drawing the attention of the participants to our exports to USA, Mr. Ardhanareeswaran said the exports has been rising rapidly so as to achieve a favourable trade balance. This, he said, indicated that our products have their own ingenuity and quality and have been able to find acceptance in US market. Our total exports to USA were Rs. 3735 crores in 1988-89, of which the products covered by the present Seminar account for Rs. 2941 crores. He assured the gathering that Government will extend full assistance and facilities for promoting exports. The Seminar will focus attention on marketing of four specific product groups, namely: Textiles including readymade garments, furnishing and made-ups; Carpets, jewellery and handicrafts; leather goods excluding garments; marine products and cashew kernels. During the year 1988-89, India's exports of these products to Canada were Rs. 139 crores. This constitutes 70% of our total exports of Rs. 197 crores to Canada during the year. Readymade garments are the most important item in India's export basket. Their exports were of Rs. 62.77 crores or 45 per cent in the year under reference. Carpets exports and their share were at Rs. 23 crores (16%), Leather and leather manufactures, Rs. 19 crores (13.5%) and textiles, Rs. 12 crores (9%) of our exports of the four product-groups. This Seminar is a unique event of its kind for it is the first time that a product and country specific event has been attempted. It is also for the first time that the importers and consultants from Canada are present to give a feeling of the Canadian market for these products. Delivering the welcome address, Shri V. S. Venkataraman, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce said that Canada offers a huge market potential for the Indian merchandise, in addition to providing a favourable foreign trade regime. India, he said, has the advantage of traditional skills tempered with modern production facilities for these items. Mr. Venkataraman said though the export of these items is steadily increasing, the Government will make subtained efforts to tap the full potential offered by the Canadian market. He expressed the hope that visiting Canadian delegation will provide a deeper insight into the Canadian marketing environment and provide valuable suggestions for further development of our exports. The participants in the workshop included, among others, Canadian importers and Executive Directors, Trade Facilitation office, Ottawa. Senior officers in the Ministry of Commerce and other Government organisations incharge of promoting exports to Canada, Commercial Representatives from High Commission of Canada in India, Leading exporters besides experienced persons from Trade Development Authority, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Export Promotion Council/Commodity Boards.