Embassy of India

ABIDJAN - COTE D'IVOIRE

Q. Mr. Ambassador, what are your wishes for better cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and India in this New Year (2022)? What is Indian Embassy plans to do for better cooperation?

Ans: First of all, wishing you and the friendly people of Ivory Coast a very happy new year on behalf of the people and government of India. As we step into a new year full of hope, I firmly believe, we shall overcome the Covid-19 pandemic together. We also hope to work harder to strengthen our bilateral ties. India and Cote d’Ivoire are vibrant multi-lingual and multi-religious democracies which have been enjoying cordial and problem free relations. 

Though strong, our relationship falls short of its huge potential. Indian Embassy, within its limited capacity, is happy to go beyond providing information to unlock this potential and has been proactively engaging Ivorian interlocutors, particularly in areas like trade & investments. Embassy, in coordination with CEPICI and Ivorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had organized three successful India-Cote d’Ivoire business forums earlier. The fourth Business forum was organized on 21st of January 2022 in Yamoussoukro. These fora have facilitated B2B, B2G and B2C interactions which have started to bear fruits.

I look forward to working with our Ivorian interlocutors to upgrade our partnership, building upon the goodwill and warmth our people share for each other. My effort will be to enhance more India in Cote d’Ivoire and more Cote d’Ivoire in India.

Q- What kind of efforts should both countries make to improve the bilateral relations particularly in key sectors of the economy? What is the state of this cooperation today?

Ans: India considers Cote d’Ivoire an important partner. We share common concerns in international fora. Both countries are committed to multilateralism. Our exchanges and interactions have diversified in terms of depth, substance and content in recent years. There are huge opportunities for cooperation. To tap and unlock these opportunities, we will have to work together as equal partners particularly in core sectors where we have complementarities, like Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Industry, Education, Capacity building & training, ICT, Agriculture & Agro-based Industries, Automobiles and Mining. We also need to build people-to-people relationships and promote not only trade but also tourism. The vibrant Indian community in Cote d’Ivoire has been and can be a useful bridge for cementing our bilateral ties.

Q. How is the Indian community in Côte d'Ivoire contributing to the development of our country?

Ans: The diaspora indeed is an important bridge for developing strong bilateral relationship between countries and generating invaluable goodwill. The Indian community in Cote d’Ivoire is relatively small but very vibrant. Majority of Indian businessmen are involved in trading but they have distinguished themselves in businesses especially in key sectors of Ivorian economy like agriculture, cashew & cotton, healthcare & pharma and automobiles. Indian community and companies have been making significant contributions to the development of the country over the years. There are almost 200 Indian companies or companies controlled by Indian interests in Cote d’Ivoire. These companies are investors and job creators, employing thousands of Ivorians. Apart from providing jobs, they also engage in extensive skilling of locals and improving their prospects for future.

The past two years have thrown up significant international challenges due to the covid-19 pandemic. Yet, the economic connection between India and Cote d’Ivoire remained strong as ever because of the organic connection between the people of two countries. As we rebuild the economy, Indian owned business will continue to play an important role here. Increased trade and more investments are essential to overcome the unprecedented economic challenge posed by the pandemic. Investments will be key for ensuring a strong economy by boosting productivity and creating jobs.

During the pandemic, Indian community in Cote d’Ivoire rose to the occasion and contributed towards the mitigation efforts of the government. India also allowed the export of necessary drugs to Cote d’Ivoire and donated 50,000 made in India Covid-19 vaccines. As we are slowly coming out of the crisis, India is looking forward to work with Cote d’Ivoire to substantially upgrade its cooperation in healthcare and pharma industry.

Q. According to some reports, trade relations between India and Côte d’Ivoire continue to grow and are estimated at 457 billion FCFA in 2017, and 569 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 24.5%. What is the situation today?

Ans. Over the years our bilateral relations have come a long way. They have diversified in all spheres and grown by leaps and bounds. Trade and investments have been growing progressively too. Apart from the traditional cashew trade, many Indian companies and entrepreneurs have their presence in key sectors of the economy such as agriculture & agro-industry, construction material, mining, pharma and automobiles in Cote d’Ivoire. According to recent studies Indian companies in Cote d’Ivoire have invested more than US$1 billion in various sectors of the economy. The bilateral trade between the two nations that stood at a mere 344.99m USD in 2011, crossed USD1 billion mark in 2019. There was a slight drop in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. I am confident it will pick up momentum again soon. We expect more Indian investments in Cote d’Ivoire as our economies start to re-emerge from the shadow of this pandemic. As per the official data, bilateral trade between our two countries from April to October 2021 stands at USD 616 million.

Q. Do you think that the value of these exchanges reflects good cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and India?

Ans. Yes, I think our bilateral trade and investment have been experiencing steady growth over years and it does reflect good cooperation. We would need to redouble our efforts to unlock the potential that exists.

Q. With Côte d'Ivoire being the largest cashew nut producer in the world, and India the largest cashew nut processor in the world, what, in your opinion, can be done to optimize revenues for both partners?

Ans. Yes indeed Cote d’Ivoire is the largest producer and exporter of raw cashew nuts and India is the largest processor and consumer of cashew nuts. To me, this is a match made in heaven for cooperation. India has been the largest importer of Cote d’Ivoire’s raw cashew until recently. However, our cooperation in this sector is growing in value addition as Indian investors are now setting up processing units in Cote d’Ivoire. According to the available data, India’s private investment in the industry is to the tune of USD 118m. The largest single unit cashew processing unit has been set up by an Indian investor with an installed capacity of processing 50,000mts of raw cashew. It can be scaled up to 70,000mts, a target company hopes to achieve by 2022-23. 

Q. Cooperation between Côte d'Ivoire and India also includes the technological park of Grand-Bassam. How is this evolving and, if any, what are the prospects in this area?

Ans. The bilateral development project of Mahatma Gandhi IT & Biotech Park in VITIB, Grand Bassam is a shining example of India’s commitment and our excellent cooperation. The project includes country’s first ever computer assembly plant and first ever DNA lab, computer networking lab, data storage centre and audio-visual lab besides others.

The park gives lucrative benefits like a five-year tax holiday, custom duty waiver, and exemption of taxes on imports and exports along with charging 0% taxes, duties and import taxes on material, construction and infrastructure equipment. Today the IT park houses 70 companies and aims to create 40,000 long term jobs along with a residential complex providing housing to nearly 20,000 employees. VITIB has been able to attract many investors including two state of the art Indian pharma companies’ M/s Africure Pharma and M/s Pharmanova. Africure has the capacity to produce approximately 1 billion tablets and 15 million syrups annually. Paharmanova, also has the capacity to produce 215 million tablets and 10 million capsules per year. These two Indian pharma companies can help reduce Ivory Coast’s over dependence on imports of drugs and also bring down the cost of drugs in the country.

Q. What about the implementation of the Côte d'Ivoire-India collaboration platform in the field of healthcare?

Ans. The AU Summit in 2015 outlined an Agenda 2063 to achieve prosperous Africa through inclusive and sustainable development. The main objective of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) was to provide universal quality healthcare and wellness for all citizens by 2063. In tune with this, the government of Cote d’Ivoire has an ambitious program to provide universal healthcare to its ever-growing population. As on date, cote d’Ivoire is importing about 94% of the drugs it requires. India is a leading exporter of high-quality drugs at very competitive rates. This should be factored into our cooperation in this critical sector keeping in mind the areas where Indian experiences and remedies could be most suitably adapted to Cote d’Ivoire’s healthcare needs.

 India-Cote d’Ivoire cooperation in healthcare assumes a special importance in this context. Importing pharmaceuticals products costs Cote d’Ivoire approximately Euros 300 million annually. Creating facilities for local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals would not only slash this bill but also would result in creation of thousands of jobs for the Ivorians. I am confident our closer cooperation in pharma can be a game changer and take our bilateral ties to the next level.

Q. We are witnessing a rise in power in your country in the automotive industry. What are the areas of cooperation that India wants to develop on this front with Côte d'Ivoire?

Ans: It is not India wants, but what India and Cote d’Ivoire can achieve together. Yes, Indian automobiles industry is experiencing a boom. This has been due to its ability to design, engineer and develop world-class products completely in India. The growth of industry in the last two decades have been to the tune of 15 times for passenger vehicles, 24 times for SUVs and 12 times for two-wheelers. These impressive growth numbers have pushed the global rank of the industry from 16th to 5th and is now poised to go up to 3rd shortly. The auto industry does a lot of good for the MSME sector which is a big employment generator for India and an important driver of economic growth. The industry contributes significantly to GDP and supports over 8 million jobs directly and as many as 30 million more in the value chain. I am confident that Automobiles industry is a promising area for cooperation, because Indian automobiles are more competitive in cost and are more durable and sturdier for the Ivoirian terrain. 

Q. India has been celebrating 75 years of its independence, what has been the highlights of celebrations in Cote d’Ivoire?

Ans: Thank you for the question. India has been celebrating “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” all over the world to commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people and achievements. As a part of these celebrations, Indian Embassy in Abidjan, in partnership with TATA Motors, organized “India@75 TATA Motors Rally” on 21st of January. The fourth India-Cote d’Ivoire Business Forum was also held on the same day. The business event was inaugurated and addressed by the Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry HE Mr Souleymane Diarrassouba. Embassy also organized two India@75 cultural programmes on 21st and 23rd January in Yamoussoukro and Abidjan respectively, where a cultural troupe from India “Dance Era” enthralled the audience.  

Besides the business and cultural events, Embassy of India in Abidjan has been organizing a series of free medical camps and donation of essential and lifesaving drugs to public hospitals in various communes of Cote d’Ivoire. So far, camps have been organized on 14th August at General Hospital Bonoua, 11th September at General Hospital Adzope, 2ndOctober at General Hospital Dabuo, 13th November at General Hospital Anyama and 11 & 12th December at Ouassakara Attie Yopougon.   In each camp, and   500-600 people availed the facilities of free pathological tests, medical consultations and got free medicines. Indian Embassy and Indian Pharma companies donates essential & lifesaving drugs worth CFA 10-12 million to each hospital.

India and Cote d’Ivoire got political freedom long ago but are yet to get freedom from sickness and diseases. The idea of organizing these medical camps were to demonstrate that there can be no better partner for Cote d’Ivoire than India to walk down the road to freedom from diseases.  To achieve this goal, both governments need to play the role of facilitators for the development of the healthcare industry through joint R&D to combat common threats from new and emerging diseases like covid-19 pandemic and chart a way forward for a win-win cooperation. Such efforts would contribute towards achieving its healthcare goals. India stands ready to walk with friendly people of Cote d’Ivoire.

Q. What are the avenues of collaboration can be envisaged between the two countries for the next 10-15 years?

Ans: The roadmap for our continued cooperation should be forward-looking, for a stronger engagement in critical areas such as trade and investment, agriculture, ICT, healthcare & pharma, automobiles, education, capacity & skill building and even defence and security. Our governments would have to look at the significant potential in our partnership especially where we have complete complementarities in our respective strengths.

I believe that the future looks good and promising for us and we should be able to really upscale our bilateral relations to meet the aspirations of every Ivoirian and Indian.

 

Thank you.