Not used our capacities in developing trade: EU diplomat

The European Union and India have not done enough to maximize trade and investments considering the scale and size of the respective economies, EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski said Thursday. The EU is the largest trading partner of India and would continue to remain so, he asserted.

The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union would not be an overarching problem with respect to cooperation in trade and investments with India, he said at a press conference here. "I am really happy to tell you that the EU is the largest trading partner of India. In 2018, our trade in goods and services exceeded USD 141 billion," Kozlowski said.

But considering the scale and the size of European and Indian economies, "we have not utilized our capacities in developing trade and investments enough. We can do much more and we can rely on each other much better," he said. The official is on a two-day visit to Chennai to highlight broad areas of cooperation between India and EU.

"..Our trade is really balanced. It means Indian companies sell the same amount of goods and services by value as European companies sell in India. It means that our economies are very complementary to each other," he said.