External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today informed that bilateral trade between India and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries has surged to 50 billion dollar in the Fiscal Year 2022-23.

Addressing the ninth Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) India-LAC Conclave in New Delhi, he also acknowledge the role of Indian companies in this bilateral growth and lauded them for their strong presence in various sectors including Agriculture, Energy, Information Technology, Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing and Automobiles in the LAC region. Elaborating on the trade with the region, Dr Jaishankar stated that India's exports to Brazil stood at 10 billion dollars, exports to Mexico were over five billion dollars, and exports to the Dominican Republic were 329 million dollars last year.

He said, India is now espousing the concept of People’s Pharmacy, similar to Jan Aushadhi, with LAC partners to make medicines especially generics available at a very reasonable cost to the low-income segments of their population.
 
During his inaugural speech, the Minister also noted that in the last nine years, there have been 34 high-level visits between India and LAC countries. He also highlighted India's involvement in executing development projects in the LAC region including in power transmission. He said around 900 million dollars have been extended under 35 lines of credit to India's various partners and 21 of these committed projects are already completed.