Held 3 meetings in 35 days with EU official to push FTA talks, says Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held three meetings within a short span of 35 days with the European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic with an aim to give an impetus to the reposed negotiations for a free trade agreement.

Goyal said on Thursday that India has already signed similar agreements with four-European nation bloc EFTA and the UK.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Now, India is in the process of concluding the negotiations with the 27-nation bloc European Union.

"We have held three meetings in 35 days. It shows our shared commitment for the FTA... we are trying to do it faster," Goyal told reporters here.

The minister is here on a two-day visit. He is meeting leaders and businesses to boost trade and investments between the two countries.

The first and the second meetings between Goyal and Sefcovic were held on May 1 and May 23 in Brussels, while the third meeting concluded on June 2 in Paris.

India and the European Union (EU) are likely to agree upon a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA).

In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on GIs after a gap of over eight years.

The negotiations stalled in 2013 due to differences over the level of opening up of the markets.

On February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the European Commission President agreed to seal the much-awaited free trade deal by the end of this year.

Goyal also said he is working with Italy and the EU for a "very" strong and mutually beneficial FTA.

"We are making rapid progress on the very very vibrant FTA which would open opportunities for businesses of both the sides," he said.

On India-Italy bilateral trade, Goyal said it's "low and sub-optimal" and both sides need to work to boost the two-way commerce. Currently it stands around USD 15 billion in goods.

"Huge potential is there to boost bilateral trade," he said.

Speaking at the briefing, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy is looking at ways to boost exports to India as both are natural partners.

He also sought Indian investments in Italy. He added bilateral talks with Goyal focused on ways to cut barriers to trade.

"Duties are never positive and our goal is to reduce it," Tajani said when asked about the US tariffs on steel and aluminium.