25 June 2012
Muscat: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and India are expected conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) for boosting trade within a year, a member of a visiting Indian trade delegation told Times of Oman here yesterday.
"If the (free trade) negotiation was with one country, it would have been much easier. We have to manage all six GCC countries and that is the problem. Within a year, it should come through,- said K. K. M. Kutty, leader of CII business delegation.
He said that CII is pressing the government and local trade bodies in all countries to speed up the process.
The GCC countries, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -" and India have identified various potential sectors like petroleum oil and energy, gas and fertilisers, information technology, higher education, civil aviation and agriculture.
An FTA in the region will benefit India substantially as the six member countries control over 45 per cent of the world's recoverable oil wealth and 20 per cent of gas resources.
The FTA will remove restrictive duties and push down tariffs on goods being traded. This will provide Indian pharma and chemical industry to export their products to the Gulf region.
Kutty, who lead a 13-member Indian trade delegation to Oman, said that Oman is one of the two focus countries in GCC identified by Confederation of Indian Industry for strengthening economic relations.
"Oman is one of the major trading partners of India and there are tremendous opportunities between the two countries,- added Kutty, who is also the former chairman of CII (Southern region).
Addressing an inter-active meeting, Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate J. S. Mukul, said bi-lateral trade between Oman and India surpassed $5 billion last year. "There are 1,500 Indo-Oman joint ventures operating in Oman.-
Saying that the fundamentals of Indian economy is resilient, he noted that India's plans to invest heavily in infrastructure development offers tremendous opportunity of Omani companies.
The delegation, who visited Sohar, had a one-on-one discussion with their Omani counterparts to seek joint venture opportunities and other business associations.
Muscat: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and India are expected conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) for boosting trade within a year, a member of a visiting Indian trade delegation told Times of Oman here yesterday.
"If the (free trade) negotiation was with one country, it would have been much easier. We have to manage all six GCC countries and that is the problem. Within a year, it should come through,- said K. K. M. Kutty, leader of CII business delegation.
He said that CII is pressing the government and local trade bodies in all countries to speed up the process.
The GCC countries, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -" and India have identified various potential sectors like petroleum oil and energy, gas and fertilisers, information technology, higher education, civil aviation and agriculture.
An FTA in the region will benefit India substantially as the six member countries control over 45 per cent of the world's recoverable oil wealth and 20 per cent of gas resources.
The FTA will remove restrictive duties and push down tariffs on goods being traded. This will provide Indian pharma and chemical industry to export their products to the Gulf region.
Kutty, who lead a 13-member Indian trade delegation to Oman, said that Oman is one of the two focus countries in GCC identified by Confederation of Indian Industry for strengthening economic relations.
"Oman is one of the major trading partners of India and there are tremendous opportunities between the two countries,- added Kutty, who is also the former chairman of CII (Southern region).
Addressing an inter-active meeting, Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate J. S. Mukul, said bi-lateral trade between Oman and India surpassed $5 billion last year. "There are 1,500 Indo-Oman joint ventures operating in Oman.-
Saying that the fundamentals of Indian economy is resilient, he noted that India's plans to invest heavily in infrastructure development offers tremendous opportunity of Omani companies.
The delegation, who visited Sohar, had a one-on-one discussion with their Omani counterparts to seek joint venture opportunities and other business associations.
© Times of Oman 2012
