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The 5th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) between India and Uzbekistan was held today at Tashkent in Uzbekistan. The Indian side was led by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Shri EVKS Elangovan who is also the Co-Chairman of the Commission. The JCM is expected to widen the economic cooperation between the two countries and give a boost to trade in the areas of apparels, engineering goods, basic chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
A number of agreements were signed between the two countries as part of the JCM. Joint ventures were signed in the fields of tourism, higher education, small scale industries and apparels. India is at present importing cotton and silk from Uzbekistan and it is felt that they can reap greater benefits in the post MFA regime in textiles through greater cooperation. An agreement with the EXIM Bank of India for expanding the scope of financial cooperation was another highlight of the meeting. The delegation also discussed the possibility of building an International Transport Corridor between India and the CIS countries to facilitate smooth movement of goods and services.
Shri Elangovan is leading a 73 member trade delegation to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as part of the Focus: CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) programme of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to enhance the areas of economic cooperation between India and the CIS countries.12 countries viz. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan Uzbekistan etc. are members of the CIS group. Under the Focus: CIS programme, the government gives assistance to Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), Business Chambers and exporters to visit these countries, organize trade fairs and to undertake various market promotional activities. Members from various Export Promotion Councils like Basic Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals EPC, Engineering EPC, Chemicals and allied products EPC are part of the delegation. The thrust areas for cooperation are textiles, engineering goods, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
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