Date:29/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/29/stories/2008032960180400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Smaller Latin American countries keen on increasing trade ties with India

Priscilla Jebaraj

CHENNAI: While India already has strong relations with large Latin American nations such as Brazil, smaller countries such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago are looking for opportunities to increase their trade relations with India, with a focus on energy, pharmaceuticals, outsourcing and tourism.

On Friday, representatives from these nations addressed a seminar on doing business with Latin America and the Caribbean in Chennai. Ecuador, which produces 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is looking for joint ventures with Indian companies to exploit its large energy reserves, according to Ambassador Carlos Abad.

Speaking to The Hindu after the seminar, he said that Ecuador hopes to sign a contract with ONGC for exploration in five blocks by the end of the year, as a follow up to the memorandum of understanding signed in 2006. Since 2000, Reliance Industries has been purchasing $20 to 60 million worth of Ecuadorian crude on the spot market. However, Ecuador is looking for something more. “We are looking for two-way cooperation. We are looking for investment from Indian companies and we also want to be able to buy technology from them … I have huge quantities of gas, but I don’t have the technology to bring it out. You have that technology,” said Mr. Abad.

Beyond oil and gas, Ecuador would also be interested in exporting bio-diesel to India. Ecuador has the requisite land area and the climate to grow jatropha, while Indian firms have the know-how to produce biofuel from the plant, according to Mr. Abad.

He has been holding discussions with Delhi and Kolkata-based enterprises to set up joint ventures in this sector over the next couple of years.

While the growing Indian economy is hungry for energy, it is lagging behind China in its efforts to procure it in Ecuador. “China has invested $2.5 billion in our energy sector…India does not even have an embassy in my country,” said Mr. Abad.

While the energy sector currently makes up 80 per cent of the Indo-Ecuadorian bilateral trade – which has grown from $1 million to $160 million over the last three years – Mr. Abad expected growth in the banking services, pharma, e-governance and tourism sectors.

Indian generic pharmaceuticals have revolutionised health services in the Dominican Republic, according to its ambassador Hans Dannenberg Castellanos. Whether in pharma, textiles or BPO sectors, Indian firms investing in the Dominican Republic would benefit from the country’s strategic location, he said.

With its position in the Caribbean, and membership in Caribbean, Latin American and North American free trade agreements, it is ideally situated as an export hub, he said.