23 March 2008
Addis Abeba — The 4th CII-Exim Bank India-Africa Project Partnership 2008 which was held in India ended on Thursday, the Indain embassy in Addis Ababa said on Friday.
According to a statment from the Indain embasy in Addis Ababa, the meting discussed cross-boarder projects worth $10 billion in diverse sectors covering infotech, telecom, agribusiness, pharma, healthcare, tourism, and others.
Over 450 business delegates from 33 Africa states, led by 35 ministers attended the New Delhi event which brought together businesses from both sides-India and Africa.
The meeting, one of the biggest India-Africa meets in the New Millennium was held as a precursor to the India-Africa Summit that will take place in New Delhi on April 8.
State Minister of Trade and Industry Tadese Haile led a 19- member delegation from Ethiopia comprising repesentatives of the public and private sector from power, leather, textiles, mining, according to the statement.issued ahead of the meeting.
The visit was a follow up of the visit of Girma Birru, Minister of Trade and Industry who participated in the Partnership summit in January 2008.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had organized the first ever Regional Conclave for Eastern Africa in Addis Ababa in April 2006, after which another conclave was held in Indai in October the same year.
State minister Taddesse participated in the New Delhi conclave which sought to maintain keen focus on building India-Africa partnerships that lead to value addition to the hose county's natural resources and production processes.
Availability of goods and services affordable to the local urban, semi-urban and rural population, local production to meet the demands of the region's growing middle class consumer market, were , among others, also the concern of the concalve.
Delegates attended a series of plenary sessions on issues impinging India-Africa economic relations.
Ten parallel sessions were dedicated to deliberations on partnerships in specific business sectors.
A 'Dialogue of Ministers' from India and Africa was also held during the conclave, apart from a CEO Roundtable.
Key recommendations from these proceedings were included in a position paper on the "India Africa Project Partnership: Vision 2015", which will serve as actionable inputs when the Summit leaders meet in New Delhi.
The conclave also facilitated a one-to-one meetings with ministers and business leaders.
For the first time, the Conclave will see the active participation of African media. A tem of media persons from Africa has been invited to participate in the Conclave and interact with the Indian media in an informal session, according to the statement.
Founded over 112 years ago, the Confederation of India Industry (CII) is a non-governmental, non-for-profit, industry led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process.
It is India's premier business association with a direct membership of over 7,000 organizations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 362 national and regional sectoral associations.
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