Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry. File.
| Photo Credit: Kamal Narang
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to visit the U.Ok. on July 10-11 to take inventory of the negotiations for a free commerce settlement (FTA) to promote financial ties between the 2 international locations, an official assertion mentioned on July 9.
The Minister’s visit might be centered on the continued FTA negotiations between India and the U.Ok. in addition to discussing progress on a commerce pact with Ministers from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member international locations, the Commerce Ministry mentioned.
The visit comes at an important juncture, as each India and the U.Ok. are dedicated to increasing their financial ties and exploring avenues for enhanced bilateral commerce.
“With the FTA negotiations gaining momentum, the visit aims to further propel the discussions and pave the way for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement that would drive economic growth and strengthen ties between the two nations,” it mentioned.
During the visit, the Minister will interact in high-level conferences together with his U.Ok. counterparts, together with the Secretary of State for International Trade, in addition to representatives from varied sectors and industries.
“These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss the key priorities and objectives of the FTA negotiations, with a focus on addressing trade barriers, promoting investments, and fostering greater cooperation in areas such as technology, innovation, and intellectual property rights,” it mentioned.
He will even meet with Ministers and officers from the EFTA member international locations, (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), to assess the progress made within the ongoing negotiations of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
The TEPA goals to improve commerce and financial cooperation between India and the EFTA member international locations, fostering an atmosphere conducive to elevated investments, decreased commerce obstacles, and better market entry.
Negotiations for a commerce settlement between India and the U.Ok. have been launched on January 13, 2021.
As many as ten rounds of talks have been accomplished until June this 12 months and either side are aiming to conclude the negotiations on the earliest.
The negotiations between the 2 international locations for the settlement cowl as many as 26 coverage areas/chapters. Investment is being negotiated as a separate settlement (bilateral funding treaty) between India and the U.Ok. and it might be concluded concurrently with the free commerce settlement.
The bilateral commerce between the international locations has elevated to $20.36 billion in 2022-23, as in contrast to $17.5 billion in 2021-22.
India’s principal exports to the U.Ok. are ready-made clothes and textiles, gems and jewelry, engineering items, petroleum and petrochemical merchandise, transport gear, spices, equipment and devices, prescription drugs and marine merchandise.
The principal imports embrace valuable and semi-precious stones, ores and metallic scraps, engineering items, skilled devices aside from electronics, chemical compounds and equipment.
In the providers sector, the U.Ok. is the most important market in Europe for Indian IT providers.
In the sphere of funding, the U.Ok. is among the high traders in India. In 2022-23, India obtained $1.74 billion in overseas direct funding from Britain as in opposition to $1 billion in 2021-22. During April 2000 and March 2023, the investments stood at $33.9 billion.
On April 26 right here, India and EFTA mentioned methods to resume negotiations for the settlement.
Under such pacts, two buying and selling companions considerably cut back or get rid of customs duties on the utmost variety of items traded between them, in addition to easing norms to promote commerce in providers and investments.
EFTA international locations usually are not a part of the European Union (EU).
EFTA is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free commerce. It was based instead for states that didn’t want to be part of the European Community.
India’s exports to EFTA international locations throughout April-February 2022-23 stood at $1.67 billion as in opposition to $1.74 billion in 2021-22. Imports aggregated at $15 billion throughout the 11-month interval as in contrast to $25.5 billion in 2021-22. The commerce hole is in favour of the EFTA group.
