Kazakhstan keen to strengthen ties with India

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MAY 6. Kazakhstan, the nine-year-old independent Republic and a former constituent of the USSR, has taken a major initiative towards strengthening economic relations with India by promoting an Indo-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce headquartered in Chennai.

A nation with a population of 17 million and rich in mineral resources, including coal, oil and natural gas and non-ferrous metals and historical links with India through the Silk Road, Kazakhstan hopes to develop the full potential for bilateral trade, which at present stands at a low of $63 million, according to Mr. Askar Sharikov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan.

Inaugurating the chamber here on Saturday, Mr. Sharikov recalled the exchange of visits between senior functionaries of Kazakhstan and India in the past few years, and said his country's access to the multilateral international agreement `North-South', aimed at the creation of a transportation corridor from India through Iran to the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and European countries provided the `actual ground' for the potential to raise the bilateral trade turnover. Kazakhstan, he said, was becoming more and more attractive as a destination for Indian investment in the context of its high economic, scientific and technological potential, favourable investment climate and huge reserves of mineral resources.

Significant potential existed to develop bilateral cooperation in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food and light industry, machinery construction, and information technology. The oil and gas sector had a special significance in this context.

Mr. Ravi Prakash Khemka, the President of the chamber, said landlocked Kazakhstan, accounting for three per cent of the earth's surface, was the first CIS country to have a bilateral chamber in India. It was a fast developing economy, with its own currency, industries and vast scenic landscape.

Mr. S. Rajendran, Secretary-General of the chamber, said the Exim Bank had included Kazakhstan in the list of countries eligible for confirmation of letters of credit (LCs) by the bank under the trade facilitation programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Business
Previous : Self deception over economic fundamentals
Next     : Subex Systems' profit doubles