LATIN AMERICAN CARIBBEAN TRADE OFFICE inaugurated in Bangalore

New Delhi [India], November 29 (ANI/SRV): The LATIN AMERICAN CARIBBEAN TRADE OFFICE in association with the Indian Economic Trade Organization inaugurated the Trade Office in Bengaluru which was well attended by the Business community in Karnataka state and other parts of India. The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba Alejandro Simancas Marin and the Ambassador of Jamaica Jason Hall inaugurated the office in Bengaluru headed by trade commissioner P. Veeraraja and the dynamic team of specialists in international business sectors. The welcome keynote address was given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Grenada Joseph Andall. The chief guest of the business summit was B.C. Nagesh, the minister of Primary Education, Government of Karnataka who also gave a presentation of opportunities available for foreign investors in the education sector and other collaborative projects with the state.
Dr. Asif Iqbal, President of the Indian Economic Trade Organization who just returned from the successful delegation from FIHAV2022 in Havana fair briefed the community about the visit to the beautiful country of Cuba a few weeks ago with a 25 member delegation also mentioned the opportunities available for the Indian businessmen in areas of mining, solar energy, tourism, hospitality sector and also education collaborations.
The Latin American Caribbean Trade office is responsible for Promoting Investment and Growth in collaboration with the Ministries of trade and commerce of various latin American countries and their governments and trade promotion departments. The office in Bengaluru will be under the embassies of various Latin American Caribbean embassies in New Delhi. The event was attended by around 170 participants representing public, business, educational and healthcare sectors of the country.

The delegates discussed with the Trade Commissioner P. Veeraraja about the issues and prospects of the bilateral economic cooperation, presented several interesting proposals aimed at jointly implementing them. In his remarks the Cuban Ambassador Alejandro mentioned about the bilateral political relations and praised the positive environment of India's Atma Nirbhar formed over the recent years, adding that the visits of the trade and business delegations of India have greatly contributed to relations and will pave way for accelerating trade and diplomatic ties.
The objective is to help promote economic cooperation and strengthen the ties between the world's largest agricultural country and Latin American nations. The Trade office will help work together on various partnerships between MSMEs of both regions, which will include visits of delegations and exploring opportunities in the hospitality, mining, and tourism sectors, to mention a few. "I'm very excited as I can see a lot of potential in Latin American countries to bring trade to India and in India to take a lot of trade to Latin America," says HE Jason Hall, Ambassador of Jamaica who feels Jamica's strategic location could be a delight for Indian corporates to do business there as it's a excellent tourist destination for Indians. The delegation from Karnataka state is slated to visit the beautiful region of the caribbean region in 2023.
There is a huge interest in India for Latin American products like coffee, Rum, Tobacco, Cigars, Mining, Agriculture food processing products and has a great scope for bilateral trading opportunities and Industrial development by Indian companies.

"Indian film shooting are a great opportunity for film makers in the Latin American region for its scenic beauty and reasonable manpower costs. When it comes to locations for Indian film makers from India, there are high number of exotic locations" said Yateesh Venkatesh, leading film maker from South India called Purple rock Entertainment and Trade Commissioner of Armenia. They plan to visit Latin America to explore some good locations for their upcoming project and are in discussions with the Trade Commissioners office in Bengaluru for support and coordination.
When asked about the role that the Indian market could play in strengthening the relations, the Cuban ambassador answers, "Agriculture is the backbone of India and so is it for Cuba. Our needs are ever-growing. To get agriculture and the tech in agriculture is the future. So, the moment we both have something to give and take, the relationship and business will only grow." The various delegations of the IETO in the past few months saw MOUs signed in the areas of Agro forestry, Tourism and Hospitality, Solar energy and Pharma products. India has a large market for Cuba's health sector and pharma Talent, with high potential for bilateral cooperation in the areas of Skill Development, Affordable Housing, Agriculture, Tourism and Entertainment.
"Jamaica has got a complete relaxed work culture and it's a very peaceful place. For somebody who's interested in resorts and hotels, it offers great opportunities. There are a lot of hotel and hospitality investment opportunities. Education too is a very imp segment there as there're a lot of Indian students in medicine. Various prospects to get engaged with Jamaica," adds the President of the Indian Economic Trade Organization, Dr. Asif Iqbal who was at the event.
Some other dignitaries who marked their presence at the opening ceremony were Ganesh Papanna, Director of the India Eurasian Council, Madangopal IAS, from the NHRC Govt of India and Ashok Alur, the Former Vice Chancellor of the BEST Agriculture University and head of the centre of excellence of Agriculture.
"As the Trade Commissioner of the Latin American Caribbean Trade Office, my goal is to build bilateral relations reach new heights between India and Latin American region and our forthcoming India LAC conference in March 2023 will see tremendous interest from the Indian side especially in the backdrop of India taking over the presidency of the G20 summit, we will have a lot to promote India and its leadership program especially in Knowledge exchange, human capacity building and exports of Agriculture produce with focus on food processing sectors which have a great scope in Latin America" said P. Veeraraja.
The Delegation from other Latin American countries are expected to visit Bengaluru in 2023 and sign MOU's with various pharma and IT companies. The office of the Latin American Caribbean Trade will facilitate these mechanisms.
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