MoU between India and South Africa Approved
• The Union Cabinet apprised of the MoU signed on July 8, 2016 between India and South Africa for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
• The MoU will help to establish inter-institutional cooperation and relations between the two Parties in order to promote cooperation in the field of ICT.
• It will also result in active cooperation and exchanges between the private entities, capacity building institutions, govempients and other public organisations of the two countries in the field of ICT.
South-East Asia Countries Set-up Fund for Health Emergencies Preparedness
• South-East Asia Region, Member countries established a dedicated funding stream aimed at building preparedness “for health emergencies in the region, which is one of the most disaster-prone on September 9, 2016.
• Establishing a joint funding stream under the South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) to help countries better prepare for such events was seen by Member countries as a key priority for the Regional health agenda.
• In recent years, earthquakes, cyclones and floods have caused health emergencies in the South-East Asia Region.
• The Region has also been threatened by a range of emerging diseases, including SARS, MERS CoV, pandemic influenza and Zika virus.
India and Vietnam Signed Agreements
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Vietnam on September 3, 2016 signaling India’s growing strategic presence in South-East Asia in Beijing’s periphery.
• India offered additional support to Vietnam’s military establishment, including finance and training, assistance to space sector, greater investments besides acquiring possible stakes in supplementary hydrocarbon blocks.
• India signed contract for supply of four patrdl boats to Vietnamese military under the $ 100 million Line of Credit (LoC) that was extended during its Prime j Minister’s India visit in October, 2014.
• India offered additional financial support in building capacity of Hanoi’s military establishment and may increase quota for training of armed forces personnel and undertake further repair and maintenance of defence hardware, hinted persons familiar.
Egyptian President Visited India
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visited India with an aim to step-up engagement in areas of security, counter-terrorism and trade on September 7, 2016.
• Both countries leaders hold wide-ranging talks signed a number of MoUs. India and Egypt have a strong economic relationship. India is the sixth largest trading partner of Egypt—the second largest export destination. India’s imports from Egypt were worth $ 1.74 billion during 2014-15.
• Indian businessmen have invested nearly $ 3 billion in about 50 companies in Egypt and have given employment opportunities to around 35000 Egyptians.
India Signed Open Sky Pact with Greece
• India signed an open sky agreement with Greece, and Greece has become the first country to have an open sky agreement with India under the new policy, on September 7, 2016.
• At present, there are no direct flights between India and Greece and passengers travel one stop via Gulf States or Turkey to Greece. In fact, there was no air services agreement between India and Greece till now thus preventing the start of air services between two countries.
• The open sky agreement will allow airlines from India to operate unlimited number of flights to Greece, while Greek carriers have been granted unlimited traffic rights to six Indian metro cities.
• Prior to this, India had entered into an open sky agreement with the USA and Britain. The open sky with Britain covers airports excluding London Heathrow.
India and Chile Preferential Trade Agreement Extended
• An agreement on the expansion of India and Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed between India and Chile on September 6, 2016.
• A Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and Chile was earlier signed on March 8, 2006 and came into force with effect from August, 2007.
• In the original PTA concluded in March, 2006, India’s offer list to Chile consisted of 178 tariff lines the Margin of Preference (MoP) ranging from 10-50% at 8-digit level and Chile’s offer list to India consisted of 296 tariff lines with MoP ranging from 10-100% at 8-digit level.
• Under the expanded PTA, Chile has offered concessions to India on 1798 tariff lines with Margin of Preference (MoP) ranging from 30-100% and India has offered concessions to Chile on 1031 tariff lines at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10-100%.
• Chile was the third largest trading partner of India during 2015-16. India’s bilateral trade with Chile stood at $ 2.64 billion with exports at $ 0.68 billion and imports at $ 1.96 billion respectively during 2015-16.
