Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister of Steel, Chemicals & Fertilizers, today met Mr Jeannot Krecke, Hon'ble Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Luxembourg, during his visit to Luxembourg. The discussions between the two dignitaries included bilateral trade and economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Mr Krecke indicated that there was a great potential for mutual cooperation in many sectors other than steel and financial services such as Plastic Processing Technology and making Luxembourg a hub of the European market for Pharmaceuticals. Reacting favourably, Shri Paswan said that India would send a delegation comprising of representatives of Pharma Industries and Plastics industries to Luxembourg to explore possible areas of cooperation including technology sharing.

Luxembourg being one of the major global centres of steel making, Mr Krecke stated that Luxembourg would be willing to extend necessary technological assistance to the Indian Steel Industry in modernizing and expanding capacities in order to achieve better productivity in a cost effective manner. Welcoming the offer of cooperation, Shri Paswan said that India would also look forward to and facilitate investments positively.

Later in the day, Shri Paswan also called on Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, Hon'ble Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and discussed issues relating to mutual interests. The leaders discussed issues relating to economic and technical cooperation between the two countries particularly in the context of the expansion plans of Indian Steel PSUs. Reacting to Mr Juncker's request that India should expedite signing of Double Taxation A ance Agreement (DTAA), Shri Paswan assured that he would apprise the Indian Prime Minister about the sentiments of Luxembourg Government.

The delegation also met the Chairman of Arcelor-Mittal, Mr Joseph Kinsch, and CEO Mr Roland Juncke. The CEO of Arcelor-Mittal explained the post merger activity of the corporate entity and the steps taken to strengthen the steel major further. The delegation also visited ProfilARBED, the group's Long Products factory. Shri Paswan took keen interest in the products of the unit where beams of large dimensions are manufactured for use in construction of buildings. He was also informed that the beams, with a dimension of 1 metre width and upto 30 metres in length, are also being used in the construction of the Freedom Tower in New York. The process of steel making, in this factory, using metal scrap through the Electric Arc Furnace route was also explained to the delegation.

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