By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 19 March 2014:
A Libyan-Indian business networking lunch was held at the Safir Indian restaurant, Baladia Street, Tripoli today . . .[restrict]hosted by the Indian embassy.
Over thirty leading members of the Libyan business community from all over Libya, the Libyan Businessmen Council and representatives of leading Indian companies in Libya were present.
At the event Indian ambassador Anil Trigunayat confirmed that there will be a large Indian Pavilion at the 42nd Tripoli International Fair hosted at Tripoli’s International Fairgrounds from 2-12 April. This will be the first official participation by India since the 2010 fair which will be led by the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), part of the Indian Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
There will be over 160 representatives of at least 80 companies, in sectors including the processed/semi processed food products (marine, tea, coffee and fruit), textile/garments/apparel, leather products, electrical/electronic home appliances/equipment, handloom and handcraft products, carpets, furniture, cosmetic/personal care products/herbal care products, pharmaceutical products and gems, jewellery products.
At the Tripoli International Fair an “India Day” will be held under the title “Indian-Libya: Business Partners in Progress and Development”. This will act as a networking session for government officials, Indian and Libyan business representatives as well as the various chambers of commerce and business councils.
The ambassador also revealed that to coincide with the fair a high level delegation of around 14 CEO’s representing various Indian companies in the fields of pharmaceuticals, health, food products, leather, IT, machinery, construction and engineering, iron and steel, energy, and consultancy will be visiting Libya from 6-8 April.
The CEO delegation will be led by India’s premier business organization, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The CII will be here to explore business potential in Libya with both the public and private sector and both in Tripoli and the rest of Libya.
It will be worth mentioning that while some countries and their companies have shown reluctance to come to Libya, Libyan-Indian bilateral trade has enjoyed huge growth after the revolution reaching around US$ 2 bn from April 2013 to March 2013.
During this period, India’s exports to Libya reached over US$ 215 million while Libya’s exports to India were over US$ 1,700 million. India’s main items exported to Libya were coffee, manufactured tobacco, marine products, processed minerals, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery & instruments, transport equipment, natural silk yarn, fabrics. Libya’s exports were oil and oil products. [/restrict]
