Ambassador hopes for agreement before end of year
India-Israel free trade discussions ongoing
He says that he is not expecting any arrangement to be made imminently, but hopes and agreement will be signed by the end of the year.
"The minute we have FTA, I believe, our focus of trade or composition of trade will shift from traditional things that we have been doing together to hi-tech, to inventing, producing and marketing products together," he told reporters here Wednesday.
The bilateral trade between India and Israel crossed $5 billion during 2011. The ambassador pointed out that this did not include services.
Though the trade decreased during 2012 because of economic challenges in both the countries, he believes the trend is positive.
Under a three-year agriculture working plan, Israel is working with different states in India to help them adopt the Israeli agriculture technology for crops like vegetables, mango and citrus fruit.
Israel also plans to set up a centre for vegetables in West Bengal. The Ambassador discussed the proposal with the authorities during his visit to Kolkata 10 days ago.
Source: business-stnadard.com
