Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal remarked that India is looking at reciprocal and equitable access to foreign markets through free trade agreements that are being negotiated with its trade partners like UAE, the UK, and Australia. The minister also observed that a few old FTAs of India which were not balanced have led to an increase in trade deficit with those nations.
Image credit: PIB
“Through the FTAs, we are looking at reciprocal and equitable access to foreign markets. FTA is a win-win for both countries. If it is an unequal balance, FTA can never be successful,” Goyal commented. “”We are now going through careful stakeholder engagement (to negotiate an FTA) and making sure that our MSMEs, dairy industry, farmers, and domestic production capacities get more opportunities. Our employment-oriented sectors like textiles, footwear, and pharma get good market access”, he opined.
Under a free trade agreement, two trading partners liberalise norms to get equal access to each others’ markets in terms of services and boosting investments. This can be done through reducing or eliminating customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. Companies can be assured services sector professionals too get good opportunities in the foreign markets through two way communication with Indian stakeholders.
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