India and Paraguay have agreed to identify sectors of mutual interest to promote bilateral investment and decided to explore new areas of collaboration, including Information and Communication Technology and space and biotechnology.
The decisions were taken as Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the country. He is the highest-level representative of India to visit Paraguay since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1961.
During the visit, Naidu met Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Bentez, Vice President Hugo Velazquez and President of the National Congress (Senate) Silvio Ovelar.
Talks were held in a warm and cordial atmosphere when the two sides discussed bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest, an official statement said.
The representatives highlighted the progressive increase of bilateral trade, whose average, in the last five years, amounts to approximately USD 376 million, and agreed to articulate mechanisms that allow a better use of its potential, it said.
Both sides agreed to identify sectors of mutual interest to promote bilateral investment considering the highly favourable business environment existing in their countries.
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They also expressed their intention to encourage the private sector to promote alliances that allow them to take advantage of the stability of their economies.
The two sides agreed to explore new areas of collaboration including in hydel and solar, health including traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, farming and agriculture machinery, space and biotechnology, railways and tourism related infrastructure.
They tasked also their teams to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between travel professionals and stakeholders in tourism. Paraguay welcomed the offer of India of capacity building through enhanced scholarships for higher education and its ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme, the statement said.
The two sides welcomed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute India, it said.
They also expressed their interest in finalising the negotiations of the pending instruments.
Both sides agreed to jointly celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandh. India welcomed the issuance of a commemorative postal stamp.
Both side concurred in the importance of strengthening Parliamentary linkages.
The two sides exchanged views on the Preferential Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and India, in force as of 1 June 2009.
MERCOSUR is an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Paraguay strongly condemned the brutal terrorist attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. The attack by Pakistan-based