France to help India boost food processing

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New Delhi: In an effort to help India develop its food processing sector, France has offered to set up a joint working group and has offered its expertise and technology in the area, according to France’s minister for foreign trade Anne-Marie Idrac.

At a press conference in New Delhi, the visiting minister pointed out that, “The agro-food sector in India shows a huge potential that is yet to be tapped.”

“So far, only 3% of the overall agricultural production (in India) is being processed; 35% in the dairy sector. In France, 70% of our agricultural output is processed into value-added products,” she said.

Later this year an Indian delegation from the food processing sector will visit Paris and have meetings with various French food processing companies, said Idrac.

Noting that the food processing sector in India was facing various bottlenecks like lack of infrastructure, packaging and grading centres , quality control and testing facilities, the French minister stated: “We have been through all that in France. Our companies’ experience and expertise can probably help you.”

Idrac, who is currently leading a delegation of French agro-industry companies in India, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy had identified agro-food as one of the industries in which cooperation must be encouraged.

She pointed out that, “Bilateral trade between the two countries is growing despite the global economic crisis. The trade between the two is currently at euro 7 billion.”

Although the trade is balanced both ways, efforts are on to meet our target of doubling up the current euro billion by 2010, she said.

Responding to a question on the India-EU FTA, she said, “Next round of negotiations between the two sides is scheduled to take place next month. And EU expects the FTA to be in place by 2010.”