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China pitches for restarting iron ore import from India

Ambassador of People’s Republic of China to India Le Yucheng said that iron ore is the major product from India, which can help the country to address imbalance in its trade, and China would provide all access to the iron ore exports from India.

“Iron ore was the most important Indian product exported to China before it was stopped, however, I hope that there will be some way to recover and increase iron ore trade from India to China,” he observed, pointing out, “India has a deficit trade, and iron ore export would balance the same.”

Yucheng, who is leading a delegation to Goa, was speaking before the office-bearers and members of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) in the city. GCCI president Narayan Bandekar and the head of China Business South Asia Corporate and Institutional Clients of the Standard Chartered Bank Leon Yang were present on the occasion. The meet was held in association with the China India Business Investment and Incubation Centre (CIBIIC).

Stating that Goa has a great potential to get into co-operation with China, Le Yucheng said that he has already met the Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and would respond positively to his invitation to Chinese investors, as regards their investment in the state in a ‘clean and green’ industry. “China’s investment in India has doubled since past one year, from USD one billion last year to USD 2.7 billion in August, this year,” he informed, observing that Goa is a smaller, yet richer state of India and tourism could play an important role in China’s relation with Goa, as also economic and cultural areas could strengthen ties of co-operation and friendship between the two countries.

Informing that China, in the recent past was facing ‘ups and downs’ in its economy, and needed to restructure the same, the Ambassador of People’s Republic of China to India said that however, his country is now on a path of economic rejuvenation. “China and India need to co-operate in the strategies namely ‘Make in India’ and ‘One Belt, One Road’ as well as Made in China 2025,” he suggested, maintaining that the chemistry between the Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played an important role in leading the passions of the societies of both the countries, towards each other.

Le Yucheng also mentioned that the International Film Festival of India, an annual event taking place in Goa, could draw China and India to each other. “In fact, Indo-China co-production of a film based on a real life story of the Chinese monk Xuang Zang, who is credited with bringing Buddhist teachings from India to China, is already in the pipeline,” he added, pointing out that at least 3-4 more such film co-productions are on the list, including ‘Kung Fu Yoga’ starring Jackie Chan.

Leon Yang, speaking on the occasion, said that the Standard Chartered Bank would “make business environment easy” for the Chinese investors in Goa. “We will invite more and more Chinese companies here and would like to see some concrete action,” he said.

Director of tourism Ameya Abhyankar said that 70 per cent of the Chinese tourists travel to Asian countries due to their proximity to culture in these countries. “Last year, Goa had witnessed 30 per cent growth in the domestic tourism, while the international tourism sector of the state is also growing,” he informed, mentioning that China is now on the e-visa list of India, and Goa would like to take advantage of the same, for its tourism.

Revealing that Goa would soon have a multilingual travel portal, Abhyankar said that a Goa Week could be held in China, and vice versa. He further suggested that sister city arrangement could be worked out for a Goan city and a Chinese city to encourage tourism, as well as an institute could be set up in Goa for the promotion of Mandarin language.

CIBIIC chairman Sanjay Sachdeva said that a China India Investment Summit has been proposed to be held in Goa, tentatively in January-February, next year, to be visited by 100 Chinese companies, for exploring possibilities as to in which sectors investments could be made in the state. He also suggested that Chinese investments could come in areas like pharmaceuticals, solar energy, online and e-com companies, health and wellness, retirement homes, and green technology industries.

CIBIIC president Anil Dev said that the Indian investment in China was ‘a black hole’ some years ago as investors did not know as to whether they would get returns to their investment. “This was in absence of established exit norms,” he maintained, adding that that was all in the past.

Former GCCI president Nitin Kuncolienkar briefing the Chinese delegation about ‘Goan Industrial and IT Sector’ observed that there is a need to establish information centre for Chinese suppliers. “Do provide us good preferential market access to China, as that would support your investments too,” he added.

Former executive director of Vedanta Group P K Mukherjee speaking on ‘Mining Sector in Goa and its Relationship to China’ said that the size of iron ore in Goa would not be impacted by slowdown in the Chinese market. “Our iron ore, even if it is a low grade iron ore, has value in use,” he added. GCCI vice-president Sandip Bhandare proposed the vote of thanks.
Source: Navhind Times