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Indo-French Relations
The economic and commercial linkages are an important component of India 's bilateral relations with France . The economic reforms process in India, five Prime Ministerial visits from India to France (in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2003 and in September 2005) and visit of the French Prime Minister to India (in 2003), the visits of the French President to India (in 1998 and in February, 2006), the visit of our President to France (in 2000), and the growing French interest in establishing their presence in Asian markets have all contributed to a broadening of economic links. The series of high-level visits in the commercial field is reflective of the growing interest of both the governments in expanding trade between the two countries. During the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to France in September 2005, he and President Chirac decided to double the bilateral trade in the next five years. Subsequently, the time frame of doubling the bilateral trade was reduced from five years to three years during the meeting of the Commerce & Industry Minister Kamal Nath with the French Foreign Trade Minister Mrs. Christine Lagarde in Paris in May, 2006.
According to the French trade statistics, the India-France bilateral trade went up by around 194% between 1997 and 2006, with Indian exports to France growing by about 164% over the same period
The statement provided below reflects the state of Indo-French trade over the last ten years:
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Indo-French Trade (Figures in million Euros)
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Year
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Indian exports to France
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French exports to India
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Total Trade
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Balance of Trade for India
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1997
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942
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764
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1706
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(+) 178
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1998
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1054
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701
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1755
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(+) 353
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1999
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1112
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901
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2013
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(+) 211
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2000
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1441
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938
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2379
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(+) 503
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2001
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1497
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1018
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2515
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(+) 477
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2002
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1471
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1000
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2471
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(+) 471
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2003
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1484
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1002
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2486
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(+) 480
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2004
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1684
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1296
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2980
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(+) 388
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2005
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2109
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1838
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3947
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(+) 271
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2006
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2493
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2533
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5026
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(–) 40
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|
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Source: Le Chiffre du Commerce Exterieur (Foreign Trade Statistics), French Ministry of Economy, Finance & Industry
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The major items of French exports to India comprise of aeronautical & space industry/construction products, machinery for the production and use of mechanical power, measuring and process control equipment, electrical equipment and apparatus, other special purpose machinery, basic organic chemicals, etc. Indian exports to France consist of a wide range of goods and services spread over a large base of Indian companies, especially from the small and medium sector. While traditional items such as garments, textiles & leather products constitute a major share of India 's exports to France , a number of newly developed non-traditional items such as refined petroleum products, food products, organic chemicals, etc. are showing promising growth.
From August, 1991 to March, 2007, Government has approved 27,426 foreign collaborations (technical & financial) proposals with a corresponding foreign direct investment of Rs. 2,876.32 (US$ 75.36) billion. Out of this the total number of approvals with France have been of the order of 915 (3.34% of the total approvals) with an equity participation of Rs. 67.63 (US$ 1.76) billion (2.35% of the total Investment), French companies rank 11 th in the list of countries in terms of cumulative FDI approved from August 1991 to March 2007. Top sectors attracting FDI approvals (during August 1991 to March 2007) from France are Fuels (power & oil refinery) (17.14%), Chemicals (other then fertilizer) (16.07%), Cement and Gypsum Products (14.15%), Glass Industry (9.93%) & Food Processing Industry (6.87%).
The cumulative FDI inflows (net of ADRs/GDRs) during 1991-2007 (up to March) are US $ 54.63 billion. France ranks 8 th with cumulative FDI inflows (net of ADRs/GDRs) at US $ 0.90 billion (1.98%). Top sectors attracting FDI inflows (during January 2000 to March 2007) from France are Chemicals (other than fertilizers) (18.80%), Cement and Gypsum Products (15.82%), Services Sector (financial & non-financial) (9.41%), Fuels (power & oil refinery) (6.47%) & Electrical Equipments (including computer software & electronics) (5.34%)
India and France have a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) since 2000 and Avoidance of Double Taxation since 1992.
An Indo-French Joint Committee for Economic & Technical Cooperation was set up in 1976 through an Agreement. Meetings are held at Ministerial level alternately in Delhi and Paris . Several Joint Working Groups at the officials level have been constituted under the Joint Committee through MOUs to deal with specific aspects of economic cooperation. The 14 th Session of the Indo – French Joint Committee on Economic & Technical Cooperation was held on 31 st May, 2006 in Paris . An MoU between Comite Colbert and FICCI was signed.
An MoU on co-operation in the field of Intellectual Property was signed between India and France on 15 July 2006, by Dr. Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry and Mr. Francois Loos, French Minister in charge of Industry.
Ms. Christine Lagarde, the French Minister for Foreign Trade visited India from December 01-06, 2006 with a delegation of 200 French SMEs for the India-France SME Forum 2006 organized by UBIFRANCE in partnership with FICCI. Many Indian companies (about a 1000 representatives) participated in the forum and 2000 B2B meetings were held. The main objective was to initiate business talks between both countries and provide a gateway for future partnerships including in the SME sector. In January 2007, Mr. Francois Loos, French Minister for Industry went to India for the CII Partnership Summit and visited Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi.
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