Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that talks for signing bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with several countries are progressing in the right direction. India is also eyeing some 'fair and just' multilateral agreements.
India has taken steps towards increasing bilateral trade and investment with these countries by implementing FTAs with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia in the year 2022. Apart from this, FTAs are also being negotiated with Britain, Canada, and the European Union. Addressing the '27th Wharton India Economic Forum' online, Goyal said that talks are on to conclude bilateral free trade agreements with many countries. "Apart from this, India is also eyeing one or two multilateral trade agreements. We are hopeful that we can benefit from these," he said.
Under a free trade agreement, both sides give access to most of each other's products and services duty-free or at minimal duty. This promotes trade and investment between them.
Goyal said it is in India's interest to be part of bilateral free trade agreements. "It is necessary that the agreements are balanced and they are in the interest of both the countries. They take care of the sensitive aspects of both the countries and also help in giving protection to certain areas," he said.
He said that India cannot make every product efficiently and in such a situation it becomes important to import those products. At the same time, there are some products like textiles, leather, footwear, and medicine in which India is competitive and trade agreements can prove effective in their exports.
Referring to India not being a part of the Regional Trade Economic Partnership (R-SEP) agreement, he said that it is not a fair agreement and is completely unbalanced. He said that the trading system of a country involved in R-SEP is "quite hazy". Along with this, he said that it is important for India to focus on quality products and services in the coming times.
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