Bilateral India & GCC trade set to cross $25bn mark by 2010
13 Feb '06
2 min read
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India(Assocham) announces India- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bilateral trade, which currently stands at $16.3 billion, will touch $25 billion by 2010, according to a white paper on 'Indo-GCC Trade Prospects'.
India's exports to GCC have grown 33.04 per cent from $7 billion in 2003-04 to $9.4 billion in 2004-05 and are further expected to go up to $15 billion by 2010, according to the paper.
India's imports from GCC, meanwhile, have registered an increase of 115 per cent from about $3 billion in 2003-04 to $6.9 billion in 2004-05, total trade witnessing a 58.59 per cent growth during the period.
Crude oil will remain a dominant import item as energy demands in India, projected to replace South Korea as the fourth largest consumer of energy after the US, China and Japan, continue to rise.
The chamber estimates that India's imports, including crude oil and petroleum products, from the Middle East rose from $5.4 billion in 1996-97 to about $27.5 billion in 2004-05.
The framework agreement on economic cooperation between India and GCC in August 2004 as a first step towards exploring the possibilities of a free trade agreement will prove to be a landmark in enhancing India's trade prospects with the Gulf, according to the paper.
India's export of basmati/non-basmati rice, tea, manmade yarn, fabrics, made-ups, cotton yarn, primary and semi-finished iron and steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, plastic and linoleum to GCC is expected to rise with the signing of this agreement, the paper noted.
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