VENEZUELAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ,
MR. JESÚS ARNALDO PÉREZ, VISTS INDIA
September 2004
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Venezuela and India strengthen trade ties
By Vinod Sreeharsha
For the Herald
CARACAS — The Governments of India and Venezuela, which met two weeks ago in New Delhi to strengthen bilateral relations, should use Kumar Rao as a case study. He and his wife, natives of Bangalore , India , arrived in Caracas , Venezuela in 1982. Employed by Tata Consulting Services (TCS), India 's first multinational informational technology company, he worked on one of its first projects in Latin America , well before globalization was a buzzword.
Today, 22 years later, this mild-mannered, bespectacled, former computer engineer is a Vice-President at Bancorp. He attributes a large part of his success to Venezuelans, telling the Herald, “they accept you completely. There is no xenophobia.”
Rao's experience will not likely be an isolated one. India and Venezuela have good reason to expect closer bilateral ties after last week's successful meetings.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jesus Perez headed a high-level delegation, includ ing two officials from the President's Secretariat that spent three days in New Delhi . In the Foreign Ministry's first visit to India in seven years, Perez met with his counterpart, Indian Foreign Minister Shri K. Natwar Singh, Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, as well as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), India 's largest Chamber of Commerce. Perez also met with Minister of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad
India 's Ambassador to Venezuela , Deepak Bhojwani, told the Herald that the visit was “extremely successful, reaffirming the excellent relations between the two countries.” He added that, “we have tremendous momentum to move forward,” reiterating India 's standing invitation to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who will likely visit the subcontinent this year.
In addition to promoting commerce, Bhojwani said, “we have the common aim of poverty alleviation.” The vast majorities of both countries live in poverty. The current governments of both India and Venezuela were each elected mostly by its citizens who live on the margins, those left out of the globalization frenzy.
Commerce talks though figured prominently in New Delhi . India 's exports to Venezuela dropped to $26 million in 2003 from $49 million in 2001. India 's non-petrol imports from Venezuela in 2003 remained close to the $4 million figure recorded in 2001. All figures come from the Venezuelan Statistics Institute. The lack of growth in bilateral trade predictably resulted from the political crisis here. Now that President Chavez has staved off the three-year effort to oust him from office, both countries anticipate increased commerce.
A highlight of Perez's visit was Venezuela 's offer to India of five oil fields, three for discovery, and two for exploration. The ONGC Videsh Ltd, the oversees arm of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), an Indian state company, will send representatives to Venezuela later this mo nth to evaluate the fields and make a final decision on the investment.
Minister Aiyar will also attend and speak at this month's OPEC meeting in Vienna as well as the summit at the end of September of Energy Ministers of the G-15, the alliance of developing countries, in Margarita Island , Venezuela .
India , along with China , is quickly becoming one of the world's largest energy consumers. Though, as recently as 1991, during the first Persian Gulf War, India only imported 30 percent of its crude oil, today it imports approximately 70 percent, two-thirds of which come from the Middle East. India is vulnerable to both political instability and rising oil prices. The Reserve Bank of India estimates that every $1 increase in a barrel of crude oil adds $600 million to India 's oil import bill. In addition, according to the Hindu newspaper, oil and industry experts announced in July at a CII meeting that at current production rates, India will exhaust its own crude oil re serves in less than 20 years and its natural gas supply in 28 years.
India needs to diversify its energy sources. In April 2000, PDVSA, Venezuela's state-run oil company shipped close to 2 million barrels of crude oil to India's Reliance Petroleum Limited, Venezuela's first consignment of crude oil to India in over 20 years. By the close of 2000, more than 7 million barrels of crude oil had been shipped to Reliance, owner of India 's largest refinery.
In 2000, PDVSA also signed an agreement with Oil India Ltd to explore for crude oil in the Indian northeastern province of Rajasthan .
These oil accords represent more than commerce for both countries. A main priority of President Chavez has been to use its oil to strengthen the G-15. Through Petrosur and recent accords with Colombia , Chavez hopes Latin America can become a main energy supplier to India .
Pharmaceuticals are likely the second largest area of trade between the two countries. In June, Indian pharmace utical companies provided six generic retroviral drugs to 12,000 Venezuelan AIDS patients for free. Several Indian companies such as Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories already have representatives in Venezuela . Neither the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry nor the Indian Embassy however indicated that any pharmaceutical accords were reached last week.
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Venezuela Offers OVL A Share In 5 Oilfields
HUMA SIDDIQUI
New Delhi , Sept 5 Venezuela has offered Oil Videsh Limited (OVL) a share in five oil fields for exploration and production. This is the first time it has offered oil concessions to a foreign company, outside the international tendering procedure.
OVL, a subsidiary of ONGC, is likely to sign an agreement with Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA for joint investment in oil and gas projects, sources said. “They have been offered two exploration blocks and three development blocks. An OVL team will visit Venezuela by the month-end to evaluate the data before deciding on investments,” a source added.
Venezuela has emerged as India 's newest oil supplier. Between the Athabasca sands and Venezuelan Orinoco basin, there is more recoverable oil (with current technology) than all of the Middle East .
The petroleum sector has emerged as a focus area of co-operation between India and Venezuela in recent years. A joint working group was set up in 1999 which identified a number of areas for collaboration, sources said.
The largest single Indian investment in Latin America, the $50 million project is the result of an MoU signed between OVL and PDVSA last December in Caracas .
This came up for discussion during the recent three-day visit of Venezuelan foreign minister Jesus Arnaldo Perez to India last week. The visit came after seven years.
Mr Perez also met petroleum minister Mani shankar Aiyar, sources said. The two ministers discussed a strategic alliance in the energy sector, added sources. Mr Aiyar said he would hold talks with Venezuela 's energy minister later this month and hoped to sign a bilateral agreement for co-operation in the hydrocarbon sector. The meeting is expected to take place at OPEC later this month.
India , which imports 70 percent of its crude oil requirement, is expected to seek investment opportunities in foreign oil and gas projects to enhance oil security in the energy-deficient country, according to officials.
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VENEZUELAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROMOTES INVESTMENT FROM INDIA IN VENEZUELA AS HE CONCLUDES HIS VISIT TO THIS COUNTRY.
El Universál, 03/09/04
New Delhi.- The Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jesús Arnaldo Pérez, ends today his three day visit to India, intended to promote social and commercial cooperation between both countries.
This morning, an interactive session was celebrated in New Delhi , jointly organized by the Embassy of Venezuela and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the largest Commerce Chamber in the subcontinent, on Investment Opportunities in Venezuela .
EFE informed that over 60 Indian companies participated in the meeting that had the objective of diffusing the advantages and opportunities that the country has to offer to Asian nations.
Latter, during a press conference, Perez declared that the main objective of his visit is to “express the political will of my Government, of tightening relations in all areas. We have excellent political relations with India , we share of Foreign Policy vision and the convergence of the need to promote a multipolar world, in which India plays a very important part.
The head of Venezuelan Foreign Relations admitted that the “excellent political relations are not followed, nevertheless, by commercial relations”, that he attempts to encourage with this visit. “India can bring its significant contribution in many fields of the transformation of Venezuelan Industry, like Energy, Petrochemistry, Mining, Information Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Industry”, he added.
The minister quoted the Indian Nobel Price for Economics Martya Sen, as he spoke of the need to “stimulate an economy with a human face”, and stated that India understands well social problems such as poverty, illiteracy and medical assistance, which it shares with Venezuela. Perez also pointed out the need for a strategic alliance between Venezuela and India at International forum level.
The Chancellor assured that in the next General Assembly of the UN, Venezuela has planned to bring up the creation of an International Humanitarian Fund to alleviate the consequences of the application of policies of the International Monetary Fund.
Venezuela and India , both members of the Group of Non Aligned Countries, The G15 and of the Third World, have been at work in the last years on common projects in the Energy sector, such as PDVSA/INTEVEP and Oil India for the drilling of oil fields in Rajasthan, which will start next January.
Both countries have signed several cooperation agreements in different areas, which indicates the mutual interest in making their relations more dynamic, interest which will be made patent with President Chavez's visit to India next fall.
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INDIAN COMPANY WILL COME AT THE END OF THE MONTH TO ANALYZE GAS PROJECTS
EL UNIVERSAL 02/09/04
The Company is thinking about a joint venture with Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA)
India 's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) evaluates the possibility of making investments in exploration in Venezuela , according to the information given by Reuters.
The company is expecting to sign a joint venture with Petroleos de Venezzuela (PDVSA) in order to develop projects on petroleum and gas. The Director of ONGC Videsh, Mr. R. S. Butola, said that the company offered to make exploration in two blocks and to develop another three blocks, and declared that a company team will be visiting the country at the end of the month to analyze the figures before taking the final decision.
Butola did not specify in which projects there would be interest to invest. In this week, the Minister of Foreign Relations, Jesús Pérez, pointed out that he had a conversation with India´s Minister of Petroleum and Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, in order to make a strategic alliance in the energy area.
In this sense, he indicated that “work has been done already and there is an advance in the identification of the projects for the joint exploration work, using the common technology and the access to the markets in order to answer to the energy needs".
The Minister of Petroleum, expressed that "the energy agreements that have being considered for many years between India and Venezuela are in their last stage. "
Last year, the India 's firm for exploration administered by the State, said that PDVSA would help them to exploit its reservations of crude oil in the State of Rajasthan , in the northeast of the country. The company discovered crude oil in 1991, but it did not have the technology to extract the viscous liquid.
The Indian State Firms look forward for opportunities of investment in projects of petroleum and gas, since the reservations are going down, whereas the demand rises. India 's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has part in projects in several countries, among them is Russia , Vietnam , Sudan , Myanmar and Australia , and hopes to produce daily 400.000 barrels of its petroleum deposits in the exterior.
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FOREIGN MINISTER JESUS PEREZ WILL PROMOTE COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY IN INDIA
Ultimas Noticias 01.09.04
Commercial Diplomacy as instrument of projection, promotion and propagation of the advantages and opportunities which our country offers to Asian nations, constitutes the fundamental objective of the interactive session which Foreign Minister Jesus Arnaldo Perez and the delegation accompanying him on his tour in Middle-East and Asia, will have with sixty business groups in the Indian capital. The Embassy of Venezuela and the Confederation of Indian Industries in New Delhi have organised the business event which will bring together managers and representatives of the Petroleum, Petro-chemical, Gas, Mineral, Pharmaceutical and other industries.
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INDIA TO DISCUSS OIL EXPLORATION IN VENEZUELA
Daily Journal, Caracas , Venezuela – September 1, 2004
NEW DELHI – India will discuss opportunities for exploring oil and gas in Venezuela when the country's foreign minister visits New Delhi this week, an Indian government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jesus Perez is scheduled to meet India 's oil minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and other officials during his visit that begins today, the spokesman of India 's ministry of external affairs said.
It said the two countries were seeking closer cooperation in several sectors including hydrocarbons, infrastructure, and biotechnology. “We are also conducting discussions for… possibilities of Indian presence in the Venezuelan oil and gas exploration sector,” he said in a statement.
India imports 70 percent of its crude oil requirement, mostly from the Middle East . “Trade and particularly trade in oil, I am sure, would form one part of the discussions. There is a meeting planned with the ministry for petroleum,” the Foreign Ministry's website quoted the spokesman as saying.
Last year, Indian exploration firm, state-run Oil India Ltd., said Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) would help it exploit reserves of heavy crude oil in the northwestern state of Rajasthan.
The Indian company discovered heavy crude oil in 1991, but did not have the technology to extract the viscous liquid.
Indian state-run firms are seeking investment opportunity in foreign oil and gas projects as domestic reserves are shrinking, while demand is rising.
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has stakes in projects in several countries, including Russia , Vietnam , Sudan , Myanmar and Australia , and hopes to produce 400,000 barrels a day from its overseas petroleum assets by 2010/11.
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VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES IN INDIA
New Delhi , Sept 1, IRNA -
The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jesus Arnaldo Perez, arrived here Wednesday morning for a three-day official visit. Informed sources in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs told IRNA that the Venezuelan foreign minister will meet the Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and Minister of State for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Shelja, on Wednesday.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters Tuesday evening that Perez will meet his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh Thursday and will hold talks and review the entire range of bilateral relations. Trade, and particularly trade in oil, would form one part of the discussions, he added. Sarna said, "We hope that the visit will give an impetus to the relations in the correct direction."
Outlining the areas of cooperation, he said, "Some of the areas in which the two countries considering closer cooperation are the hydrocarbons and infrastructure sector as well as biotechnology, investment promotion and both countries will be discussing issues like avoidance of double taxation, extradition etc". He said, " Venezuela is an important growing market for Indian products particularly pharmaceuticals with the Venezuelan public heath sector looking increasingly to reduce costs to procure generic medicines.
There has also been an increase in exports of engineering plants and machinery, chemicals, textiles and so on to Venezuela , he added.
Sarna said, "We are also conducting discussions for Indian expertise to be sent to Venezuela to set up a diamond exchange center and possibilities of Indian presence in the Venezuelan oil and gas exploration sector.
There has been close collaboration between the two countries in the multilateral fora, he added.
As President of G-15, Venezuela received the former external affairs minister in Caracas in February 2004 and has now invited the minister of petroleum and natural gas to the forthcoming energy ministers meeting of the G-15 to be held in Venezuela at the end of September.
The figure of India`s exports to Venezuela in 2002 was about $ 33 million. India`s annual import is about $ 150 million. This includes import of oil products as well as non-oil imports. The non-oil imports are very small of about $ 4-5 million, Sarna said.
He said, this visit by the foreign minister of Venezuela comes after seven years following the visit of the then Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Burelli Rivas, in 1997.
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