The measures will include consignment sales, operation through escrow account and warehousing, Maran said while speaking at the plenary session of the 14th session of the India-Romania joint commission and the seventh session of the joint business council in Delhi on Monday.

He hoped that Indo-Romanian joint initiatives in the use of the Constanza free trade zone in Romania and development of joint trade ventures and cooperation in a large number of traditional and new areas including metallurgy, oil, railways, pharmaceuticals, textiles, leather would translate into reality in the near future.

Exim Bank is offering a credit line of $10 million to Romania, which Maran said was a welcome move.

India and Romania are also to sign shortly an agreement on quarantine and plant protection as well as an agreement on maritime transport.

India's total trade with Romania stood at $61.62 million in 1998-99. Of this, India's imports were $44.27 million and exports $ 17.35 million.The meeting is being co-chaired by Maran and by Radu Berceanu, his Romanian counterpart. Both the ministers underlined the potential for augmenting bilateral trade and the scope for bilateral cooperation.

Maran noted that there had been a decline in the bilateral trade volume compared to 1980s, except for a marginal improvement during 1995-96 and 1996-97. This dip in trade was not unexpected on account of transition from the rupee trade to convertible currency trade and completion of the liquidation of rupee balance under the central clearing account.

He emphasised the importance of India as an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. Under the present conditions, trade between the two countries should grow rapidly. Maran said the joint commission at this point should provide direction to bilateral economic relations.