India-Guinea Bissau Relations

Political Relations:

India and Guinea Bissau, for decades, have maintained warm and friendly relations. Guinea Bissau Government is generally supportive of India. There has been regular cooperation at international fora such as the United Nations and NAM. There is considerable goodwill for India both amongst the Government and the general public of Guinea Bissau. There are no perceivable irritants/differences in the relationship. An Honorary Consulate of India in Bissau was inaugurated in May 2010.

Commercial Relations / Bilateral Trade:

Value in Million US$

Year	India’s Exports	India’s Imports	Total trade	Growth in %
2010- 11	3.07	59.45	62.52	-66.64
2011- 12	12.42	235.64	248.05	296.77
2012- 13	10.88	140.2	151.09	-39.09
2013- 14	19.02	109.68	128.69	-14.82
2014- 15	9.76	158.38	168.14	30.66

Source: Export Import Database, Department of Commerce, Government of India

Cashew crop accounts for more than 90% of its export earnings. It is important to note that almost the entire cashew crop (around 98%) is exported to India for processing.

ITEC and other training and assistance programmes:

For the financial year 2015-16, 25 slots for training in India under India Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) have been allotted to Guinea Bissau whereas 05 Scholarship slots are provided under ICCR.

An expert in the area of rice cultivation visited Guinea Bissau from India in early 2006 to assist the country under India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum’s “Poverty Alleviation Funding Facility”. An expert Team from India had also visited Guinea- Bissau to assist in a Solar Power project. Guinea Bissau is a founder member of the Team-9 Initiative. Under this framework, GOI has earmarked an LOC of US$ 25 million for Guinea Bissau. In February 2009, India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Trust Fund Board, approved around US$ 830,000 for two projects (combined) namely for renewable energy and agricultural capacity building in Guinea Bissau. Guinea Bissau does not have a diplomatic mission in India.

NRI Population

There are about 100 Indians in Guinea Bissau. However, every year during cashew crop season, 40-50 Indians visit Guinea Bissau for few weeks to negotiate, purchase and ship the consignments of raw cashew to India

Note:  Content for this article provided by IAFS.in

India-Guinea Bissau Relations

[inbound_forms id=”438″ name=”Contact us”]