India-Africa bilateral trade stands at $83 billion
At present bilateral trade between the two sides is balanced with India’s exports at $ 42.7 billion and imports at $ 40 billion but untapped potential exists across regions, the minister said at the Valedictory Session of 20thEdition of CII India Africa Business Conclave.
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Pointing to the potential in the auto sector, the minister noted that while Africa imports nearly $ 20 billion worth of motor vehicles annually, India meets just $ 2 billion of this demand. While India can increase its supplies to Africa of automobiles, it can in return benefit from greater imports of African resources such as critical minerals, petroleum products, and agricultural commodities.
India is cost-competitive in services like architecture, engineering, IT, Artificial Intelligence and telecom, while also offering potential in medical tourism.
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Agriculture, Pharma, Green Energy sectors identified for collaboration
Other sectors highlighted by Goyal for collaboration included agriculture technologies, renewable energy and generic medicines.
This balanced exchange, he said, would help both regions expand trade, generate employment, and build long-term industrial partnerships, Goyal added.
Goyal urged African nations to work with India at multilateral platforms like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to create common objectives and influence global decision-making. The call comes at a time when the world trade system is undergoing a major overhaul which will even change the way multilateral institutions will function.