New Delhi, Sep 13 (Inditop.com) India’s business with Sweden is booming and bilateral trade is likely to double to $5 billion in five years, according to a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Bilateral trade expanded almost four-fold between 2002-03 and 2007-08 to stand at $2.7 billion. India exports a range of manufactured products to Sweden, including iron and steel items, automotives and machinery parts. Major imports from the Scandinavian country are electrical equipment and machinery.
Swedish investments in India crossed $500 million between April 2000 and May 2009, CII said. Indian investments in Sweden are also increasing, especially in the IT and pharmaceutical sectors.
The report will be officially released in Sweden later this week during Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma’s visit to Stockholm. A CII delegation will accompany Sharma to Sweden during Sep 14-16.
Led by former CII president N. Kumar, the delegation will interact with Sweden’s Trade Minister Ewa Bjorling as well as business leaders in that country.
The industry lobby will also organise an India Business Seminar in partnership with the Swedish Trade Council in which both ministers will participate. The objective of the visit is to deepen and strengthen India-Sweden economic relations through trade and investment, CII said.
Also, as Sweden will take over the European Union (EU) presidency later this year, it can help bring the India-EU free trade agreement talks on fast-track, the report said.
According to the report, electrical and electronic equipment, environment, food processing and infrastructure sectors are the potential sectors of cooperation between the two countries.
