Ahead of 12th BRICS Meet, Inaugural Indo-African Virtual Summit Sets Eyes on Mutual Cooperation
Nov 06, 2020
New Delhi [India], Nov 6 (ANI/NewsVoir): Just ahead of the 12th BRICS summit, the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a three-day long Indo-Africa Virtual Summit 2020 that began on yesterday.
The inaugural day of the first-ever virtual Indo-Africa Summit was graced by the presence of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Railways, Piyush Goyal and Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for Sports, Heritage and Culture, Former Foreign Minister, Kenya, Dr Amina Mohamed with some other important dignitaries.
"Our mission is to enhance ties to 100*100 matrix by 2025, i.e., A target of 100 billion USD of Bilateral Trade and 100 billion USD of Investment between India and Africa," said Rajiv Podar, President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Indo Africa Virtual Summit.
The summit is taking forward the vision set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to one of the African countries, Uganda in 2018 to empower Africa and enhance bilateral ties. The combined markets of India and Africa encompass 2.5 billion people and GDP of USD 5.5 trillion. Since 2001 there has been a significant expansion of trade. The volume of trade between India and African countries grew from USD 5.3 billion in 2001 to 70 billion in 2013.
At the World Economic Forum in Delhi in 2014, the two sides reaffirmed their intention to reach a trading volume of USD 500 billion by 2020. As well as expanding trade, the Indian government supports private investors and aims to diversify trade. With that and the well-established historic strategic partnership and cultural ties between India and African countries, there is great untapped potential for trade and investment. There are many panel discussions are going on in the summit to evaluate opportunities for mutual inter-dependence.
"The governments of India and the African nations could come together and help in the global revival of the economy. The African continental free trade came into force in 2019. Indian companies can benefit from setting up industry in Africa. As of June 2020, India had extended 121 lines of credit to 41 African countries to set up businesses there. With an emphasis on infrastructure, finance, technology, and to reach a USD 100 billion bilateral trade," said Rajiv Poddar, President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Indo Africa Virtual Summit, while speaking at the summit.
Today's panel is going to discuss the mutual cooperation between two countries in banking finance - digital and financial Inclusion. Likewise, Africa has a burgeoning population with great opportunities in lower-end and expanding middle-class banking.
Today's esteem panel will discuss current and future collaborations in the banking and finance space between India and Africa.
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