By IANS
New Delhi : India and Russia Wednesday announced the setting up of a joint task force to ensure greater and smoother flow of trade and investment between the countries.
The task force, which will be headed by the trade ministers of both countries, will also seek to remove several issues that act as deterrent in bilateral trade.
“The joint task force set up by both the governments will ensure greater business takes place between the countries. It will create a positive investment climate in India as also the huge investment opportunities in infrastructure, metallurgy, real estate, pharmaceuticals and other sectors,” India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said while addressing the second India-Russia Forum on Trade and Investment.
Both sides, represented by Kamal Nath and Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade Elvira S. Nabiullina, also signed a protocol agreement to resolve and cooperate in areas of mutual interest.
“Both India and Russia have agreed to cooperate in traditional as well as new areas like energy, oil and gas, transport, pharma, steel, mining, health and tourism,” Nabiullina said.
Both the ministries reiterated that trade would be doubled to $10 billion by 2010 from the current $5 billion.
It has also been decided to form an India-Russia CEO Council with 10 top CEOs from each country. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd will head the council on the Indian side.
The council will have similar aims as the task force in ensuring greater bilateral trade and investments between the two countries.
According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), trade between India and Russia had the potential to reach $20 billion by 2015 if certain procedural issues were addressed.
Ficci had identified certain critical issues such as credit risk, insurance cover, Russian ban on import of farm products, registration time for pharmaceutical products and investment safeguards that are acting as “trade irritants” between the countries.