The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Kyrgyzstan keen to boost trade ties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Kyrgyzstan keen to boost trade ties

Staff Reporter

Potential fields include hydel power

"Government focusses on providing investor-friendly business climate"

CHENNAI : The Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan is looking to improve vastly bilateral trade with India on diverse fronts ranging from hydel power and food processing to textiles and tourism, the Minister-Counsellor in the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in India, Saktanbek Kadyraliev, said on Tuesday.

The official, who was here on an invitation from the Rotary Club of Madras, said Kyrgyzstan wanted to step up bilateral trade from the current volume of about $50 million in the next few years.

Admitting that the current level of trade was low, Mr. Kadyraliev said his country realised India's potential as a trading partner. At present, Kyrgyzstan has trade with around 100 countries.

``The Government focusses on providing an investor-friendly climate for businessmen,'' Mr. Kadyraliev said. The sops ranged from tax holidays for some sectors and low-import duty (less than 10 per cent) to free currency exchange and free repatriation of profit. An equal treatment policy, tax reduction on profit from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, VAT exemptions on agricultural production, and avoidance of double taxation were other highlights, he said.

Of specific interest to Kyrgyzstan is a possible Indian partnership in its hydroelectric energy sector, which generated 14.2 billion KW last year. Energy exports go out primarily to China, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The country is also a repository of gold, tungsten, antimony and other rare earths and is keen on investments that will better exploit these natural resources.

According to Mr. Kadyraliev, Kyrgyzstan is in the thick of a construction boom and this has opened up partnership possibilities in exploiting granite, marble and gypsum deposits for Indian businessmen.

Mr. Kadyraliev said the Republic was giving final touches to legislative amendments to enable Kyrgyzstan to join the single trade zone carved out by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The landlocked country, billed as `Paradise on Earth' for its chain of 88 mountain ranges, Lake Issyk-Kul — the world's second largest alpine lake — and architectural monuments is fast turning into a hub for film-making. However, the Republic's efforts to attract more tourists during June-September have been only moderately successful. "Tourism logistics are still old-fashioned and need to be modernised,' Mr. Kadyraliev said.

And, those looking for an Indian connection, remember the 14th century warlord Timur (Tamerlane) whose army overran Delhi in 1398, his grandson Babar's Mughal legacy and the Shashi Kapoor-starrer Ajooba.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu