Dear Reader,

Greetings. The global economy is on an upswing in 2007, though the GDP growth rate in the United States is likely to be slower than in the previous year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the two most important global financial institutions, have forecast a healthy rate of growth for the world economy. The IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO), published recently, predicts that the average world growth rate of 4.9 percent in the period 2003-2006 will continue at least for the next two years, covering 2007 and 2008. This is a very heartening development. The World Bank, in its Global Economic Prospects report, also published recently points to a strong global performance reflecting a very rapid expansion in developing countries, which grew more than twice as fast as the advanced economies. This brings us to the phenomenal economic progress that China and India has been making in recent years. The cover story of the current issue highlights the global economic scenario. As the overall focus of the issue is on economy, we chose to highlight various economic facets of all the TCF member countries, especially their bilateral trade with India. Among the European countries, Germany stands out in terms of its fast expanding trade with India. The trade between the two countries touched the 10-billion Euro mark in 2006, three years ahead of the target time. We carry a detailed report. Today, it is exciting to do business with Russia, which has rewritten its destiny in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The issue has a write-up on Moscow 's multi-sector growth projections. In Asia, Indonesia's economic recovery after the political upheavals that the country had gone through in the recent past, is nothing short of a miracle. Today, Indonesia is well on a higher growth track. A report. West Bengal is a state on the move and Dr. G.D. Gautama, its Principal Secretary, is a man in a hurry. Dr. Gautama, as IT Secretary, had put Kolkata on the global BPO map. Now, he is in-charge of tourism and we have an interview with him on his initiatives to draw more and more tourists to West Bengal. A dynamic state that is tucked in the North-East is Assam. The curent issue of Open Trade carries a special report on the state, led by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who is making laudable efforts to transform Assam for the better. Apart from these articles, the current issue carries the usual and regular features..
Wish you happy reading

Satya Swaroop
Managing Editor
satya@newmediacomm.biz