Piyush Goyal to hold meetings with G7 trade ministers in Italy next week

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold bilateral meetings at Reggio Calabria in Italy next week with his counterparts from G7 nations and discuss ways to boost trade and investments, an official statement said on Saturday.

Reggio Calabria is a coastal city in southern Italy. The Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US.

These meetings aim to explore new avenues for trade and investment, resolve bilateral trade issues, and deepen economic cooperation, it said.

Goyal will hold these deliberations on the sidelines of the outreach session of the G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting (July 16-17) in Italy.

"During this visit, Goyal will also engage in bilateral meetings with the trade ministers of G7 countries and other participating nations in the outreach session, reinforcing India's commitment to global trade and investment partnerships," the commerce and industry ministry said.

It added that India would showcase the immense trade and investment opportunities that it offers.

In the outreach session, the minister will highlight India's vision for global trade and supply chain resilience, reforms and initiatives undertaken by India to enhance the ease of doing business and attract foreign investments.

The visit also assumes significance as India is negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK and the European Union (EU).

Talks for a trade agreement between India and Canada were halted last year due to political issues. Over half a dozen rounds of talks have been held between the countries on the trade pact so far.

Further, the ministry said prior to his visit to Italy, Goyal will be in Switzerland on July 14-15 for business and official meetings with Swiss counterparts.

"The discussions will focus on the implementation of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) and charting a roadmap for the investment commitments made by EFTA, amounting to USD 100 billion," it said.

This visit aims to further strengthen the bilateral economic and comprehensive partnership between India and Switzerland, fostering deeper economic ties and mutual growth, it added.

On March 10, India and the EFTA signed a free trade agreement, under which New Delhi received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion over 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products like Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties.

The EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

As per the provisions of the agreement, India will have the option of temporarily withdrawing customs duty concessions on EFTA country goods under the trade agreement between the two sides, if the four-nation bloc would not fulfil its USD 100 billion investment obligations.

Though the investments have to flow in 15 years -- USD 50 billion in the first 10 years (counted after implementation of the pact) and another USD 5 billion in the next five years, the trade deal also provides for a three-year grace period to the EFTA bloc to meet the obligations, according to the agreement documents.

TEPA is likely to be implemented this year.