India and Malaysia Wednesday said the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries is expected to be ready by September, in time for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit here in November this year.
Indian Trade and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his Malaysian counterpart Mohammad Mustapha met for a bilateral meeting and discussed the CECA, with both noting that though a
few issues remained on the table, it would be done by September.
However, sources who did not want to be named said though the issues on table were not unsurmountable, time was needed to resolve them.
Later, Sharma told a press conference that despite last year's economic downturn, India was hopeful of achieving 15 per cent growth in its exports.
"Yes, we will achieve our target, the world lives on hope and we are very much focused on our target for doubling our share by 2015," he added.
India's largest cellular service company
Bharti Airtel will invest USD 600 million in Nigeria's mobile market following its take over of Zain Telecom's African business for around
USD 10.7 billion.
Manoj Kohli, the CEO international and joint managing director, told reporters in the country's commercial capital, Lagos, Tuesday that Bharti will also invest in rural telephony and introduce a corporate social responsibility programme that includes setting up of schools that would offer free quality education to underprivileged children in rural communities.
"We are very delighted to be in Nigeria and at the outset like to express our deep gratitude and than the government of Nigeria for their overwhelming support. We want to be a partner in Nigeria's growth and will work with the government to take the telecom network deep into all corners of the country to touch the common man," Kohli said.
The company will also bring its ecosystem of global partners to Nigeria and this will increase employment opportunity in the country with teeming number of unemployed school leavers. Kohli said Bharti will embark on an aggressive expansion in Nigeria in order to boost the profile of the country with a population of 150 million people as an emerging market powerhouse.
He noted that mobile phone customers in Nigeria use only 50 minutes of airtime a month whereas 450 minutes is obtainable in India and promised to make an improvement.
He sounded optimistic about the future of Africa stating: "If a company hopes to grow, they have to be in Africa and the jewel of Africa is Nigeria." Zain's Nigeria CEO Rajan Swaroop said: "In Nigeria we will continue to build on the momentum ...introduce innovative products and services for our customers in
Nigeria." Mobile telephony was introduced in Nigeria in the early 2000
and South African-based MTN controls half of the market despite the presence
of some other companies like Globacom and Etisalat.
However, lowering of call tariff may give Bharti an edge as most Nigerians complain of high cost of making calls.
Bharti Airtel embarked on the largest ever telecom takeover by an Indian firm on June 8, 2010, when it completed a transaction to buy Kuwait-based Zain Telecom's businesses in 15 African countries for USD 10.7 billion.
The Africa holdings include Burkina Faso, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar,
Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Chad and Zambia.