Page 5 - Free Trade Agreements

India-Oman free trade pact talks at advanced stage, says Ambassador Narang

Discussions for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are at an advanced stage and both sides hope to conclude the pact early, Indian Ambassador to Oman Amit Narang said on Tuesday. The pact will give a significant push to bilateral trade and investment ties between the two countries, he said. The pact, officially known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), is expected to boost Indian exports to the west Asian country by eliminating duties, especially on petroleum products, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and iron and steel. "Discussions for a bilateral CEPA with Oman are at an advanced stage. We hope to conclude these discussions early and once this is done, this will be a significant push to bilateral, not just trade, but also bilateral investment ties," Narang said. Addressing an event organised by Ficci here, the Indian Ambassador to Oman also highlighted the significant potential for enhancing direct shipping li

Next round of India-Australia comprehensive trade pact talks in November

Senior officials of India and Australia are expected to hold their next round of talks for a compressive free trade agreement in November here, the commerce ministry said on Sunday. The two countries implemented an interim trade agreement in December 2022 and are now under negotiations to expand its scope. It said that the tenth round of India-Australia CECA (comprehensive economic cooperation agreement) negotiations was held from 19-22 August in Sydney in the areas of goods, services, digital trade, government procurement, rules of origin and agri-tech. Intense discussions were held on each of these tracks bringing in clarity and understanding for convergence in the remaining provisions, it added. "The next round of CECA negotiations is likely to be held in November," it said in a statement. The Indian delegation was led by Rajesh Agrawal, the Chief Negotiator and Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce and the Australian delegation was led by Ravi Kewalram, the Chief Negoti

Piyush Goyal suggests Bimstec group members to relook proposed FTA

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday suggested the seven member countries of the BIMSTEC bloc to relook at the progress of Free Trade Agreement talks which are moving at a very slow pace. He said that the members can think of negotiating a preferential trade agreement instead of a full-fledged free trade pact. BIMSTEC stands for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Its seven members are five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). The bloc has been negotiating a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2004. So far over 20 rounds of talks have been held. The last one was held in 2018. "I would like to raise a few fundamental issues about where we stand and what are the possibilities of making this FTA a reality," Goyal said here at CIIs BIMSTEC Business Summit 2024. He said that so far 22 rounds of talks have been held for t

India needs capacity to deal with non-trade issues in FTA talks: Barthwal

India needs to develop capacity to deal with non-trade issues during free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said. He said that non-trade issues have increasingly been emerging in trade negotiations. Barthawal was speaking at a function of the Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) last week. "The secretary observed that non-trade issues have increasingly been emerging in trade negotiations, raising the need for cross-disciplinary capacity building in FTA negotiations for India and other developing countries," the commerce ministry said. It added that the Centre is aiming to create a dedicated pool of legal experts who could provide technical inputs for enhancing India's participation in international trade and investment negotiations and dispute settlement. It is also aiming to become a thought leader in the various domains of international economic law such as WTO (World Trade Organisation) law, international investment law and legal is

India seeks duty concession on cars, machinery in FTA with Sri Lanka

India is seeking customs duty concession on a number of goods including cars, commercial vehicles and machinery from Sri Lanka under a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA), talks for which are underway, an official said. India has also sought easier visa norms to further facilitate entry of professionals from here, the official said. The 14th round of talks between senior officials of India and Sri Lanka was concluded recently in Colombo. Issues which came up for the talks included rules of origin, goods, services, and technical barriers for trade. On the other hand, Sri Lanka has sought removal of a quota on apparel exports to India. The island nation is also asking for duty concessions on tea and certain agricultural commodities. The official said that as elections are announced in Sri Lanka, the next round of negotiations between the two countries will be held after that. The two nations have already implemented a free trade agreement in goods and now they are negotiating

India, EFTA trade pact under ratification process: MoS Jitin Prasada

The government on Friday said the free trade agreement signed between India and the four European nation bloc EFTA in March is under the ratification process in those countries. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said that there is no fixed time frame for the ratification, as the process is different in each of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries. In March, India and EFTA signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). Under the pact, India will receive the investment in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. The EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. "The TEPA agreement is under the ratification process in the national parliament or legislature of each EFTA country," Prasada said. In India, such trade pacts are approved by the Union Cabinet. According to the

Global trade trends and Budget initiatives

The Budget signals a move towards a more open trade policy, but further broadening and deepening are essential

Goyal says industry's demand for protection may derail UK, EU FTA talks

India and the UK have been negotiating a trade agreement for over two-and-a-half years

FTA talks with Japan, Korea, Asean moving slow, India still pursuing: Goyal

The negotiations to review the free trade agreements (FTAs) implemented with Japan, Korea, and Asean are moving slow but India is pursuing those talks, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He said these agreements were signed and implemented during the UPA regime. These pacts are hurting the domestic industry and almost all firms stated that they are "unfair" agreements, Goyal said. "I am helpless as those agreements (came into effect) before we came to power. I am helpless to change it until we close the negotiations. "We are under re-negotiations but obviously when they (Japan, Korea, Asean) realise that the Congress's agreement was better for them (Japan, Korea, Asean), they are happier to keep that rather than change the agreements... they are going very slow, (but) we are also pursuing," he said while speaking at a CII programme on Viksit Bharat. Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is one of the major trade partners of India, with a share of

Negotiating teams to restart FTA talks with India as soon as possible: UK

The process of getting negotiating teams back in the room will kick-start soon to deliver a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, the UK's newly elected Labour government announced on Monday as it set out its trading priorities. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds spelt out his department's approach to international trade deals, which he said will put economic growth at the heart of the negotiations to achieve high-quality pacts that give British businesses access to international markets and boost jobs. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said it also plans to publish a trade strategy which aligns with the government's industrial strategy, enhances economic security and supports net zero ambitions. Boosting trade abroad is essential to deliver a strong economy at home. That's why I've wasted no time taking stock of progress and getting ready to press on with trade talks with our international partners, said Reynolds. From the Gulf to India, our trade programme

Trade winds

Tackling non-tariff barriers is crucial

Planning to establish centre for FTA negotiations, biz deals: Comm secy

The commerce ministry is looking at setting up a centre for negotiations, as this is an important skill set required in areas like free trade agreements and other business deals, a top government official said on Tuesday. Addressing students and faculties of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) here, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the centre can also help in creating a skill set among students of the institute. "Negotiations are going to be a very very important skill these days. When we do FTAs, negotiation skills are a very important tool, so we have to create one centre for negotiations. But that centre is not just supposed to do FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations, we have to get into the broader framework of negotiations, which also involves mergers and acquisitions and other business deals," Barthwal said. This centre will not be only for the government, but it will also be able to create skill sets among IIFT students. "So, that is the initiative, we will

India-EU next round of talks for trade, investment agreement likely in Sep

Senior officials of India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) are expected to hold the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement, which aims at boosting commerce and investments, in September, an official said. Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain said that the eighth round of talks was concluded on June 28. He said that discussions were held on all 21 chapters in the meeting and progress was made in number of areas such as government procurement, digital trade, technical barriers to trade, goods, and market access. "We plan to hold more inter-sessional meetings in July and August and we intend to have another round (of talks) in the last week of September," Jain told reporters here. On June 17, 2022, India and the EU formally resumed negotiations on the proposed agreement, after a gap of over eight years. They are negotiating Trade and Investment Agreement, and a pact on Geographical Indications (GI). India had started negotiations for a tra

UK's Labour Party vows to eliminate anti-India sentiments within its ranks

The UK's Opposition Labour Party, hoping to win a mandate to form a government after the July 4 general election, has committed itself to stamping out anti-India sentiments within its ranks and building a strong strategic partnership with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led administration. The party's resolution during an annual conference under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in favour of international intervention in Kashmir was widely seen as having cost it British Indian votes in the 2019 general election. There have also been concerns over some Labour councillors espousing pro-Khalistan views. At a Political Hustings' event for Britain's South Asian community organised by Asian Voice' in partnership with City Sikhs and City Hindus Network in London on Friday evening, Labour Party chair and shadow secretary of state for women and equalities Anneliese Dodds claimed that the party led by Keir Starmer is confident of having cleansed its ranks of any members with such extremist

Good, services exports expected to surpass $800 bn in FY25, says Goyal

'Hope to make progress in India-UK FTA irrespective of elections'

EEPC India cautiously optimistic on engineering export growth in FY'25

EEPC India remains "cautiously optimistic" for the engineering exports growth in the current fiscal, even though the shipment registered a 7.3 per cent year-on-year increase in May, amounting to USD 9.98 billion, an official said on Friday. This uptick is part of a consistent growth pattern, with the April-May period of FY25 witnessing exports totalling USD 18.65 billion, a modest rise from USD 18.25 billion for the two months of FY'24, the Engineering Export Promotion Council said. "We remain cautiously optimistic with the upturn in shipments which reflects improvement in the demand scenario in key markets. The global economic outlook is expected to improve in the ongoing fiscal and exporting community remains optimistic," EEPC India chairman Arun Kr Garodia said. Softening price pressure and easing of interest rates in major advanced economies is set to spur demand, he said. Garodia also pointed out that several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are under negotiation and these could b

India may sign FTA with Oman in first 100 days of PM Modi's third term

This free trade agreement with Oman will mark the first significant bilateral deal of Modi's third term as Prime Minister of India

'No proposal made': MEA rejects Maldivian minister's claim on FTA

India on Thursday said it has not made any proposal to the Maldives for a bilateral free trade agreement (DTA) and that it was ready to consider if the island nation expresses interest for such a pact. "No specific proposal for a bilateral FTA with the Maldives has been made by the Government of India," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "If the Government of Maldives expresses interest in having an FTA with India, we will give it due consideration," he said. Jaiswal's comments came in response to a question at his weekly media briefing. Last week, Maldivian Minister for Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed indicated that India has initiated efforts to have an FTA between the two countries. "They (India) want there to be a Free Trade Agreement with Maldives, in addition to SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement)," Saeed told a press conference in Male. The Maldives President has offered this opportunity to all countries, Saeed said, adding that

Govt plans to formulate SOPs for negotiating free trade agreements

India is considering formulating standard operating procedures (SOP) for negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) as the country is engaging with several trade partners for such pacts, an official said. To discuss the various aspects of these agreements, the commerce ministry is organising a two-day 'Chintan Shivir' on FTA strategy and SOPs for trade negotiations. Former commerce secretaries, industry experts and government officials would participate in the deliberations on May 16-17 at Neemrana, Rajasthan. Various issues that would come up for deliberations include India's trade strategy and vision 2047; economic assessment and modelling of FTAs; inclusion of new disciplines into FTAs such as labour, environment, gender, indigenous people; services and digital trade; SOPs for FTA negotiations; and industry experience on utilisation of the FTAs. A separate session is being organised on leveraging India's FTAs to address new forms/kind of measures such as CBAM (carbon border ...

India seeking fair market access ahead of the India-Asean FTA review

India aims to modernise and update the deal to align with current times, considering that the trade agreement was signed over a decade ago