New Delhi [India], October 2 : Lauding the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) coming into force, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday referred to India's trade agreements with some advanced economies as also ongoing negotiations including with EU and said India is rapidly engaging with the developed world from a position of strength and confidence.
He said trade deals will give access to Indian exporters, Indian industry, Indian service providers and providing millions of jobs to people.
The landmark Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and the EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) entered into force on October 1, representing a significant milestone in the trade and economic relations between the parties. India is the fastest-growing large economy and is on course to become the world's third-largest economy. The EFTA States collectively rank among the global leaders in both merchandise and services trade. Together India and the EFTA States represent a combined GDP of about USD 5.4 trillion, providing the scale for deeper integration.
"It's a great day today. It's an absolute honour to have launched the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) today at the Bharat Mandapam, which has come into effect. The first agreement with the four-nation European bloc of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. India is rapidly engaging with the developed world from a position of strength and confidence. After our successful free trade agreements with Australia, UAE, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is now coming into operation from today," Piyush Goyal told reporters.
"With the rapid progress being made in negotiations with the 27-nation European Union, effectively, we would have covered all of the European countries with free trade agreements, giving access to Indian exporters, Indian industry, Indian service providers and providing millions of jobs for our young men and women. It's a great day today on the auspicious occasion of Navami, on the eve of Dussehra, it is a day of celebration," he added.
Goyal also said that Switzerland and the United Kingdom were always considered the most difficult countries to work on intellectual property and the laws around intellectual property (IP) and said there is a robust IP chapter in TEPA.
"They are very strict about their IP laws and somehow, there was a lack of trust for decades between these European countries and India. I am happy to share with you that we have built that trust by having a very robust IP chapter in TEPA with EFTA, in the free trade agreement with the United Kingdom and we will have a chapter in the EU agreement, which only goes to show that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India today is not living in the past. India is today well-prepared for the future," he said.
The Union Minister said that India today goes to negotiate from a position of strength with full confidence in the ability "of our young talent".
"Therefore we are confident that given the robust intellectual property laws and enforcement in India and the plans to make them even stronger in the future, we will not only attract the committed hundred billion dollar investment but we are hoping to attract much more than that," he said.
The agreement includes an investment objective of USD 100 billion over 15 years and facilitation of creating one million direct jobs in India, while providing wider goods and services access across Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.