Spices to be promoted through India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

Indian spices and spice products, widely popular in the Gulf and the rest of the Arab world, may be the first commercial products to find their way through the new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

The Corridor was announced at the recently concluded Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in New Delhi to augment connectivity and integration among countries in the region.

Taking the first steps to promote the Corridor, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor is similar to the Spice Route of the historic past.

"So, we should be looking up to this new initiative as an appropriate opportunity to celebrate the flavours of India and the versatility of the country in the regions covered by the Corridor. Let Indian spices capture world markets," the Minister said while addressing the World Spice Congress in Navi Mumbai, just outside India's commercial hub of Mumbai.

Goyal said cuisine in India and the Middle East "would be incomplete without spices. We should now strive to make spices an essential ingredient across the world," according to a readout by his Ministry about the Congress.

Using a clever pun, Goyal exhorted that harnessing the new Corridor, "if we all work together as a team, we can spice up the world of commerce and exports. Let us delight the world with the magic of spices and let us preserve this magic for future generations."

Goyal urged the 35 million-strong people of Indian origin residing across the world, including the GCC to be brand ambassadors "to encourage increased consumption of spices across the world."