India Madagascar Trade Conference was organized by the Indian Economic Trade Organization and the Embassy of Madagascar on DECEMBER 27, 2022

New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI/SRV): India Madagascar Trade Conference was organized by the Indian Economic Trade Organization and the Embassy of Madagascar to accelerate the trade relationships between both countries. Various MOUs were signed by the Trade Commissioner E.S. Kathir, Chairman of the Kathir Group of Institutions and various other stakeholders of the business and education in presence of the Charge D Affaires of the Madagascar Embassy Tsiory Adriamparaniarivo who was accompanied by his Spouse and the President of the Indian Economic Trade Organization Dr Asif Iqbal and the Head of Brand Secretariat, Ministry of External Affairs Dr Venkatachalam Murugan IFS.
The event which was attended by the business community in Coimbatore. The Chairman of the Kathir Group of Institutions greeted the team of the Embassy of Madagascar and pledged the commitment of support between the two nations for a robust partnership. There is a huge interest in India for Madagascar, a country with great scope for bilateral trading opportunities in MSME, Pharma, Fishing, Aquaculture and Manufacturing sector. This collaboration will also be useful for identifying business partners, collaborations, alliances, setting up industrial units, display Indian products and services and other related business activities as well as to take up issues to concerned authorities.
Madagascar is the largest and most populous island in the Indian Ocean. It is located in the South Western Indian Ocean. The chief guest of the event Dr Venkatachalam Murugan from the Ministry of External Affairs emphasized on strengthening relations between both countries and deepening them with India's economic diplomacy. He also mentioned he was one of the accompanying officials with the then President of India Ramnath Kovind to Madagascar in March 2018. This was a historic visit in the sense that no high-level visit from India had taken place earlier. During the visit, two bilateral agreements in the field of Defence Cooperation and amendatory air services agreement were signed. Visits from Madagascar at the Ministerial level have been taking place at regular intervals.
The Madagascar Trade Commission in Coimbatore will put efforts to take full advantage of the Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries and organize various activities to educate and create a conducive business atmosphere amongst the Indian SME Investor Sector for better business growth and investment promotion.

Charge D Affaires of the Embassy of Madagascar said global trade relations were essential and it was gratifying to see the development of trade relations between India and Madagascar.
"As a President of the organization, my goal is to build bilateral relations reach new heights between India and Madagascar and our forthcoming delegation in 2023 will be on to deepen and diversify the relationship by identifying new synergetic areas for cooperation and collaboration, especially after the establishment of new trade mechanisms between our countries for trade and commerce" said E.S. Kathir who is looking to connect the companies for business in Madagascar. Indian delegation will explore opportunities in areas of contractual farming, poultry industry, meat processing and agricultural collaborations and also identify other opportunities for building up a robust infrastructure needs of the country.
The Charge D'Affaires of the Madagascar embassy also expressed great interest in supporting the trade relations between the two countries and invited the trade community to explore all the available choices for investors. India and Madagascar have enjoyed warm and friendly relations dating back to the pre-independence era. Foreign Minister of Madagascar Richard Randriamandrato visited India for the first time to participate in the 7th edition of Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi from 25-27 April 2022. During the visit, Minister interacted with Prime Minister of India and also met the EAM of India. The issues discussed during the meeting included taking forward the development partnership between India and Madagascar with focus on food and health security, capability building and the digital domain. A delegation from the Indian naval forces visited the marine fusilier training centre in Diego, Antsiranana from 10-14 December 2019 for a special commando training of the Malagasy armed forces and marine commandos. A 5-member Indian Navy Mobile Training Team to train the Malagasy Special Forces imparted 14-day training to 50 trainees from the Malagasy side from 14-27 March 2021.
The Government of India had extended a concessional Line of Credit of USD 25 million to Madagascar for raising the productivity of rice and setting up of fertilizer plants and the agreement was signed in 2008 with the Exim Bank of India. As per the agreement, 425 tractors and equipment & machinery for setting up bio seeds processing and fertilizer plants were supplied to Madagascar. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation and collaboration in broadcasting was signed on 10 May 2022 between the Office de la Radio et de la Television Malagasy (ORTM) and Prasar Bharati, the Indian public radio and television company. The MOU aims to exchange programs, explore the co-production of programs and training, through staff exchanges. Through this agreement, TVM will broadcast programs from Prasar Bharati's in-house productions in the areas of culture, education, science, entertainment, sports, news and other areas of mutual interest.

India and Madagascar are connected via Mauritius, Kenya, Ethiopia, Seychelles and Reunion Island. No direct flights are available. Air Madagascar has included a direct flight in the Mumbai-Antananarivo sector in its three-year plan. "Tourism sector is an important part for Indian travellers and we will try to bridge this sector in our trade offices" said Lavanya Kathir, the Director of Kathir Group of Institutions. "Big countries like India are helping to excel in the trade sector. At the same time, big cities like Coimbatore are growing industrially and supporting economic growth. In this way, it has been established to improve the relationship between India and India and Madagascar and to gain superiority in trade and industry" said Prof Dr Ranganathan, the Honorary Consul of Myanmar in Tamilnadu.
As part of the ceremony, Founder Chairman E.S. Kathir, of the college was appointed as the Trade Commissioner to promote better relations between India and Madagascar and presented with a certificate from the Ministry of MSME, Govt of India. Many professors and students of the Department of External Relations participated in this.
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