India and Nigeria have decided to finalize a local currency settlement system agreement soon and have identified several areas of focus for economic cooperation, including digital economy and digital public infrastructure, crude oil and natural gas, and pharmaceuticals. These decisions follow the 2nd session of the India-Nigeria Joint Trade Committee held in Abuja on Thursday.

Nigeria is India’s 2nd largest trading partner in the Africa region. Bilateral trade between India and Nigeria stood at USD 11.8 billion in 2022-23. However, in 2023-24, bilateral trade declined to 7.89 billion. With a total investment of USD 27 billion, approximately 135 Indian companies are actively engaged in Nigeria’s vibrant market. These investments span diverse sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing, consumer goods, and services.

A seven-member delegation from India led by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Amardeep Singh Bhatia, accompanied by High Commissioner of India to Nigeria G Balasubramanian and Economic Adviser, Department of Commerce Priya P. Nair, held a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with their Nigerian counterparts in Abuja from 29-30 April 2024. The JTC was co-chaired by Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigeria, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi, and Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce.

In a comprehensive dialogue, both sides undertook a detailed review of recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties and acknowledged the vast untapped potential for further expansion. To this effect, both sides identified several areas of focus for enhancing both bilateral trade as well as mutually beneficial investments. These areas include resolving market access issues, cooperation in key sectors such as crude oil and natural gas, pharmaceuticals, unified payments interface, local currency settlement system, power sector and renewable energy, agriculture and food processing, education, transport, railway, aviation, MSME development, etc.

The official delegation from India included officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), EXIM Bank of India, and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The officials from both sides actively engaged in the proceedings of the JTC, showing an enthusiastic response towards greater cooperation, addressing pending issues, boosting trade and investment, and fostering greater people-to-people contacts.

In a concerted effort to bolster bilateral trade, both sides committed to expeditiously address all issues impeding bilateral trade and facilitate trade promotion between the two nations. A business delegation led by CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) also accompanied the official delegation, comprising representatives from various sectors like power, fintech, telecommunications, electrical machinery, pharmaceuticals, etc.

The deliberations of the 2nd Session of the India-Nigeria JTC were cordial and forward-looking, indicative of the amicable and special relations between the two countries.

India and New Zealand are set to deepen collaboration in pharma, agriculture, and food processing industries, and enhance services sector trade after a delegation led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal held a number of constructive and outcome-oriented meetings in New Zealand to work on ways to deepen the existing bilateral relations, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday.

Following a series of these consultations with the Minister for Trade of New Zealand Todd McClay, Acting Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand Brook Barrington, the India-New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) and the 11th India-New Zealand Joint Trade Committee, both sides acknowledged the existing huge potential in both economies and mutual trade complementarities as well as the scope to increase the trade and people to people contacts.

The meetings addressed bilateral trade matters of mutual interest, including issues related to market access, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures on products like grapes, okra, and mangoes, mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) in organic products, simplified homologation including through mutual recognition of comparable domestic standards for vehicles, etc. Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to resolve these issues through constructive dialogue and cooperation under the existing mechanism of the JTC.

Among the focused discussions on several key areas aimed at promoting bilateral trade and cooperation, were progress on market access issues, economic cooperation projects, and explored opportunities for new initiatives. Both sides discussed the establishment of robust bilateral economic dialogue architecture and the creation of working groups on sectors like agriculture, food processing, storage and transportation, forestry, and pharmaceuticals to facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues.

Services sector and enhancing its scale for bilateral trade was given special focus during the discussions held at various levels which revealed great interest from both sides for increasing business to business as well as people to people contacts and to work on the skill gaps and how the same can be strengthened through capacity building and improving the ease of mobility. It touched upon areas such as hospitality sector including adventure tourism, nursing, telemedicine, education, air connectivity, Joint R&D (wherever feasible), startups, etc.

Collaboration in the area of pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector was discussed at length, including the adoption of fast-tracking of regulatory processes and quality assessment of manufacturing facilities using, as appropriate, the inspection reports of comparable overseas regulators. Greater sourcing of medicines from India and cooperation in the medical device sector was also discussed.

Both parties briefly explored opportunities for collaboration in digital trade, meeting nationally determined contributions, cross-border payment systems, among others. The discussions also included cooperation in the horticulture sector, including cooperation in the kiwi fruit sector (quality and productivity, proper storage in pack houses and their suitable transportation), as well as the dairy sector. Once working groups are established, India and New Zealand will review the progress made by those working groups and the recommendations thereof at regular intervals.

During the 12th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) held in Hague on Thursday, India and the Netherlands resolved to enhance bilateral relations by emphasizing on advancements in new technologies such as semiconductors and green hydrogen. Both parties acknowledged the significant progress across all sectors and deliberated on future endeavors in key areas including Water, Agriculture and Health (WAH agenda), Science & Technology, and High-tech and Innovation, as stated by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a press release.

For the meeting, the Indian delegation was led by Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs while the Netherlands delegation was led by Paul Hujits, Netherlands Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a post on X, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “Secretary General Paul Huijts was pleased to welcome @AmbKapoor, Secretary West @IndianDiplomacy, to The Hague for bilateral consultations. A valuable exchange on ways to further strengthen our cooperation, bilaterally as well as on global issues of concern to both our countries.”

In a press release, MEA stated, “The FOC provided an opportunity to review progress in bilateral relations and discuss future agenda of cooperation. Both sides welcomed the excellent progress in all areas and deliberated on the way forward in priority sectors of Water, Agriculture & Health (WAH agenda), Science & Technology, and High-tech & Innovation.” “They underscored their interest to raise the level of ambition and agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations, by focusing on new emerging technologies like semiconductors and green hydrogen,” it added.

During the meeting, the officials of India and Nigeria appreciated the robust and fast-growing economic ties and noted the importance of holding the inaugural meeting of the Fast Track Mechanism for Indian companies in the Netherlands as an important step towards further enhancing B2B relations, according to the press release.

Furthermore, the two sides appreciated the presence of a large Indian community in the Netherlands, which forms an important connection and is contributing positively to the local economy and expanding cultural ties. The officials also held talks on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Indian Oil Corp. has resumed purchasing Russian crude oil transported by a Sovcomflot PJSC tanker this week, indicating a potential restoration of oil trade between the two countries after disruptions caused by tightened US sanctions. The Suezmax tanker Vladimir Tikhonov unloaded approximately 1 million barrels of Russian Urals crude at Paradip port on Thursday, according to Bloomberg ship-tracking data. This delivery marks the first crude shipment by a tanker owned by the Russian state tanker giant since another smaller vessel, SCF Baltica, discharged fuel oil last week in Sikka, Gujarat.

Indian Oil did not respond to an email seeking comment regarding this development.

The decision by India’s largest refiner to accept a Sovcomflot tanker is significant as it may encourage other smaller refiners to also utilize Sovcomflot vessels for their oil purchases from Russia.

Refiners in India, who have become important buyers of Russian crude since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, had earlier decided in March against receiving oil transported on all tankers owned by Sovcomflot, following stricter US sanctions imposed in February in conjunction with Group of Seven nations to prevent Russia from evading a price cap on crude exports. This situation has led to a rotation of various traders and marketers handling Russian crude trade with India, creating an evolving network of transporters and ensuring that some cargoes continue to flow from Moscow.

Indian refiners have become more comfortable with purchasing Russian crude, including on Sovcomflot tankers, particularly after US officials visited New Delhi last month and indicated that they never expected India to halt its purchases of Russian oil, as it was in Washington’s interest to maintain energy flows and prevent supply shocks.

India’s daily crude imports from Russia surpassed 1.9 million barrels in April, the highest since July, according to data from the intelligence firm Kpler. Deliveries of Urals and Sokol crude have increased significantly month-on-month, as indicated by the data.

Meanwhile, at least five Sovcomflot tankers carrying Urals crude are signaling India as their destination this month, with the tanker Suvorovsky Prospect currently anchored off the country’s west coast, according to Bloomberg ship-tracking data.

Chinese power dues currently stand close to PKR 550 billion, with disruptions observed in timely payments under the revolving fund in recent months.

Pakistan is in talks to finalize a payment schedule of nearly Pakistan currency (PKR) 550 billion (USD 1.98 bn) to Chinese Independent Power Producers (IPPs) ahead of the 13th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn reported on Wednesday. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing, slated for the first week of June, is expected to follow the JCC meeting.

The Pakistan-based news daily reported citing sources revealed that the Chinese authorities have stipulated that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit should occur after the 13th JCC meeting to address outstanding issues and solidify cooperation under CPEC-2. However, the scheduling of the JCC meeting is pending due to unresolved issues. The entire focus of the Pakistani side, spearheaded by Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, co-chair of the JCC, is to settle all pending matters, particularly concerning the reduction of outstanding dues to Chinese IPPs and ensuring timely future payments, including those under the revolving fund, Dawn reported citing sources.

Chinese power dues currently stand close to PKR 550 billion, with disruptions observed in timely payments under the revolving fund in recent months. Chinese financial institutions are seeking reassurance to extend further cooperation in critical projects, necessitating urgent confidence-building measures. “The delay in payments and the Chinese insistence on special energy tariffs for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have impeded major projects and investments in SEZs,” sources added. Dawn reported that Pakistan’s Minister Iqbal has been engaging in extensive consultations with relevant ministries and agencies, including two high-profile sessions on Tuesday.

He chaired the first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Chinese Investment Projects (CCoCIP) to address overdue issues concerning CPEC-IPPs, stressing the submission of outstanding amounts by the IPPs involved in CPEC energy projects. “The importance of providing electricity to SEZs at an incentivized cost, without government losses, was emphasized,” said an official statement quoting Minister Iqbal.

He directed the involvement of the Board of Directors of power firms, particularly the National Transmission and Dispatch Company, to expedite the resolution of SEZ-related issues. Additionally, Minister Iqbal held a detailed session with 35 Chinese enterprises and Pakistani business houses to garner input and proposals for enhancing bilateral cooperation and realizing mutual opportunities.

He highlighted that the second phase of CPEC emphasizes industrial cooperation and business-to-business partnerships, building upon the groundwork laid in the initial phase.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) have joined forces to launch the India-Australia Women’s Leadership Forum, aiming to bolster gender diversity and empowerment in the corporate sphere. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between CII and BCA underscores their commitment to fostering women leadership in the industry and strengthening bilateral ties between India and Australia. The official announcement of the India-Australia Women’s Leadership Forum was made during a launch event held in New Delhi, India.

The forum will be co-chaired by Viji Murugesan, Head of Scaleup Business Transformation at Tata Consultancy Services, and Ravneet Pawha, Asia CEO of Deakin University. As partners in the India-Australia CEO Forum, CII and BCA aim to elevate the participation of women leaders in the partnership, facilitating connections, sharing insights, and providing a platform for further engagement between companies and leaders from both nations. Parimita Tripathi, Joint Secretary – Oceania, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, highlighted the strategic importance of the forum in strengthening economic and social relations between India and Australia. Tripathi emphasized the role of the forum in deepening people-to-people ties and enhancing the economic and social relationship between the two countries.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry, stressed the significance of supporting women leaders in the India-Australia relationship. He emphasized CII’s commitment to promoting gender equity and equality through initiatives like the India-Australia Women’s Leadership Forum, aimed at harnessing the strength of women in bilateral relations. Bran Black, Chief Executive of the Business Council, underscored the importance of gender equality within the Australia-India CEO Forum and the recommendations it provides to both governments. He expressed BCA’s commitment to supporting the establishment of the Australia-India Women’s Leadership Forum, stating that encouraging women into leadership positions is crucial for enhancing the productivity of both economies.

The establishment of the India-Australia Women’s Leadership Forum comes at a time when the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) has provided momentum to the economic partnership between the two countries. Indian and Australian companies are leveraging this trade agreement to trade at reduced tariff rates, emphasizing the need to prioritize gender equality to enhance economic productivity. Recognizing the critical role of women in this economic partnership, CII has undertaken an active agenda to promote India-Australia economic ties.

The establishment of the India-Australia Women’s Leadership Forum aims to create an ecosystem that promotes the economic contribution of women to the India-Australia corridor. The forum’s objective is to bring together women leaders from both countries to strengthen connections, share insights, and provide mentorship to future women leaders. Through workshops, mentorship programs, promotion of best practices, and participation in policy-making exercises, the forum members will strategize to promote women’s leadership across the corridor.