Expanding Cooperation with Indian Delegation to Meet Needs of Local Market

DAMASCUS, (ST)- Damascus Chamber of Commerce Mohammed Ghassan al Qalla’and members of the Chamber discussed here with an Indian trade delegation areas and opportunities for expanding trade and economic cooperation between Syria and India and to meet the needs of the local market of Indian products, goods and equipment.

Mr. al Qalla’ stressed that the visit of the  Indian delegation reflects the common desire to deepen commercial cooperation and economic position of Syria and its role in the region, pointing to the depth of trade and economic relations and cultural ties linking the two friendly countries.

“Despite of the large size of trade between the two countries,  which includes a wide range of goods and products , however, the proportion of our imports is much larger than our exports , expressing the hope that this visit will be an opportunity to see the possibilities of import from Syria for many commodity that India needs and produced by Syria, and expanding trade exchange for the interest of the two friendly countries , particularly in the domain of benefitting from the Indian scientific and technical development,” Mr. al Qalla’ clarified.

For his part, Head of the Indian Economic Cosmos Group, Anil K. Agrawell expressed his appreciation for the steadfastness of the Syrian people in the face of all the suffering, pointing to the importance of enlarging the base of cooperation between Syria and India for the benefit of the two peoples, especially in the field of textile sector.

Mr. Agrawell stressed his country’s readiness to meet the needs of the reconstruction phase in Syria and infrastructure development of the transport sector of roads, railways, airports, building new cities, generation stations and water, pointing to the existence of great experiences in these areas as well as the Syrian expertise available in this field.

He also pointed out that his country has vast experience in the field of banks, adding to the possibility of providing credit lines to secure the necessary funding for many of the goods and materials imported from his country to Syria and equip hospitals with all their equipment and specialties as well as telecommunications networks, the Internet and smart phones.

For his part, the Indian charge d’affaires in Damascus S. D. Sharma stressed his country’s aspiration to develop relations with Syria and expansion in all areas of the business sector, calling on Syria to contribute to the development of these relations and take advantage of business opportunities, economic and investment opportunities.

Deputy Chairman of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce Bahaa Eddin Hassan said in an earlier statement that the value of Syrian imports from India amounted to 30 billion Syrian pounds in 2012 compared with 691 million Syrian pounds of exports which included lentils, cumin seeds, chickpeas and uncombed cotton. The trade agreement signed in 1978 regulates the relations between the two countries.

It is noteworthy that India, during the past year, presented a loan of 100 million dollars to Syria to finance priority projects in the food, the poultry sector and the development of livestock.

Sharif el Khatib