The bilateral trade between India and France is poised to touch $12 billion by 2012 against $8 billion in 2009, said Pierre Fournier, French consul general, Puducherry. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to India in December, will further strengthen relationship between the two countries, Fournier said on Saturday at a seminar on investment opportunities in France organised by CII.
R Prabhakaran, executive director, group marketing & business development, Amalgamations group, said, "France is India's fifth largest trading partner in the European Union." Around 600 French companies are present in India and 90 Indian companies have their operations in France. Food processing sector has scope for greater cooperation, added Prabhakaran. "The bilateral trade between India and France has exceeded the $8 billion mark in 2009, registering a phenomenal growth of our two-way trade in the last few years," said Guillaume Page, inward investment officer, Invest in France Agency.
"In order to attract more investment, a new financial incentive scheme has been introduced by the French government to support companies for financing their investment projects in France," said Page.
Life sciences industry, chemicals, IT, automotive industry, metalworking industry, renewable energies, logistics are some sectors where it is looking for investments from India. For a company of up to 5,000 employees targeting to invest with a minimum of euro 5 million in France, will have the opportunity to apply for a zero % interest rate loan to finance a part of its project, he said.
Lionel Petit , legal expert, Karl Waheed, Paris, spoke on the recent regulation in favour of intra-group transfer, so called 'employees on assignment 'mission facilitating professional mobility to France with issuance of a three years contributed work and residency permit. Lionel Petit also presented the recent social security agreement between France and India that should come into effect early 2011 and resulting in the possibility for Indian employees to be exempted from around 20% of French social taxes.
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