German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Premier Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced their aim to boost bilateral trade by more than 50 percent in the next two years. "We have set ambitious goals, for example to increase foreign trade to 20 billion euros (26.5 billion dollars) by the year 2012," dpa quoted Merkel as saying after talks in Berlin. Given the current trade volume of around 13 billion euros, Merkel said both countries would have to "work hard," but expressed confidence that India's growing economy would provide mutually beneficial opportunities. "The sky is the limit for our cooperation," Singh said, praising India's "excellent" relations with Germany. "Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe, and India's largest trading partner in Europe," the premier said. He extended his full support to Merkel for Germany's "key role in ensuring financial stability and economic recovery in the euro zone." "The economic resurgence of Europe is critical for a balanced recovery of the global economy," Singh added.
