India-Syria trade to reach $500 million in next 3 yrs: FIEO

NEW DELHI: The bilateral trade between India and war torn Syria is expected to reach USD 500 million in next three years as there are huge exports potential for domestic players in areas, including automobile, machinery and plastics, exporters body FIEO said Tuesday.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta is leading an 84-member business delegation to Syria for discussing ways to promote trade.

The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 175 million in 2017 and it would reach to USD 500 million by 2020, he said in a statement. Gupta said India should review its exports strategy depending on imports profile of Syria.


He also said the import of automobiles in Syria is about USD 293 million, with India's exports of less than USD 1 million.

Similarly, electrical machinery imports by Syria is USD 303 million, while India's exports are USD 4.18 million only, he said, adding that huge export potential is there in mechanical machinery and appliances, and plastics.

The delegation discussed payment mechanism and banking arrangements, the two main stumbling block in trade and investment, he noted.

"Trading in local currencies, offsetting of trade balance with investment were some of the options discussed with the Syrian authorities," Gupta added.