Page 9 - Fta

CEPA: India's non-oil exports to UAE rise 5% during June-January

India exported goods worth $285.9 billion during the June-January period, up 3.1%

India-UK ongoing FTA negotiations won't be hit by BBC row: Govt official

"As per the UK government, BBC is an autonomous organisation and the even UK government is not owning up to it," said the official

Impasse broken to get India FTA talks back on track, says UK trade minister

Britain's trade minister in charge of negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with India on Tuesday admitted the talks had hit a "bit of an impasse, which she broke by flying to New Delhi last month. UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the deal is now "back on track", in an apparent reference to the Diwali 2022 deadline for the FTA set by former prime minister Boris Johnson being missed last October amid political turmoil in Britain. Addressing Lancaster House in London in a speech laying out her Top five priorities for trade", the minister insisted that she was a problem solver at heart and is confident a "high quality" deal will be struck with India. "Some of you will know I was a software engineer and a systems analyst before I became a politician. That means I'm a problem solver at heart," Badenoch told the business gathering. "So when our Indian trade talks hit a bit of an impasse, I didn't pick up the phone, I got on a plane. That deal's not done yet, but it's back on trac

India FTA can be clinched this year, but no more visa offers: UK minister

The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) is expected to be clinched this year but it won't involve any boost of free movement visa offers for Indians, British trade minister in charge of the negotiations has said. Kemi Badenoch, who was in New Delhi last month to kick off the sixth round of FTA talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, said that former prime minister Boris Johnson's "deal by Diwali" deadline last year was not feasible and had to be changed. In an interview with The Times' recently, the UK Secretary of State for Trade also ruled out any major similarities between the FTA the UK had struck with Australia one of the first post-Brexit trade deals and that with India. "We left the EU (European Union) because we didn't believe in free movement, we didn't think it was working. This is not a deal that's negotiating some kind of free movement with India, Badenoch told the newspaper, with reference to more visa offers. The minister indicated a willingness to m

FTA negotiations with India 'well advanced', next round soon: UK minister

Negotiations between Britain and India for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are well advanced, with the next round of talks set to commence very soon, a UK Foreign Office minister told peers in a debate in Parliament here, asserting that a strong deal could boost the country's economy. Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK Foreign Office Minister for South Asia, also said Britain's relationship with India is central to its foreign policy and as one of the world's biggest economies it is a key partner. Ahmad was responding to the debate entitled The Importance of the Relationship Between the United Kingdom and India in the House of Lords on Thursday, tabled by British Indian peer Baroness Sandy Verma. He confirmed that negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) are well advanced, with the next round of negotiations set to commence very soon. It is true that, as we set up and strengthen this relationship, the United Kingdom's relationship with India is central to UK foreign ..

India's ongoing FTA negotiations with EU, UK are on track: Govt official

All these issues require a lot of unanimity among the negotiating countries and these talks are complex exercises

FTA will act as catalyst to fulfill huge trade potential with India: Israel

Bernstein-Reich, who also holds the position of Chairperson of the Israel-India and Sri Lanka Chambers within the Israel-Asia Chamber, will continue in that role

India looking at bigger ambitions in trade with US, says Piyush Goyal

Two specific targets for this elevated engagement were semiconductors and defence production

Expect to sign at least two more FTAs next year, says Piyush Goyal

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said he expects at least two more free trade agreements to be signed up in 2023. Negotiations are scheduled with the UK, European Union and Canada, Goyal said at an event here, adding that his ministry does not have the bandwidth to tend to requests by smaller trading partners like New Zealand with which the bilateral trade stands at USD 350 million. "India today works from a position of strength, we negotiate with confidence," Goyal said, adding that the country will sign at least two such free trade agreements. Speaking at the event to mark the operationalisation of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement signed in April this year, Goyal said January itself is filled with meetings between Indian Commerce Ministry officials and their counterparts abroad. After handing over certificates of origin to the first among the Indian goods being sent to Australia after the agreement, Goyal said the FTA will benefit a sle

Indo-Aus trade pact from Dec 29; several goods to get duty-free access

The interim free trade agreement between India and Australia will come into force on Thursday, providing duty-free access to thousands of domestic goods such as textiles, and leather in the Australian market. The agreement will help almost double the bilateral commerce to USD 45-50 billion in around five years, according to exporters and industry players. The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was signed on April 2, would provide duty-free access to Indian exporters of over 6,000 broad sectors, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery in the Australian market. Labour-intensive sectors which would gain immensely include textiles and apparel, a few agricultural and fish products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports goods, jewellery, machinery, and electrical goods. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Vice-President Khalid Khan said that Australia is one of the key markets for Indian exporters. "This agreement will give immense

India's push for free trade negotiations: A status check of ongoing deals

Take a look at the status of the ongoing FTA negotiations by India

Countries eager to sign FTAs with India: Piyush Goyal in Rajya Sabha

Countries across the world are looking at India as a trusted partner and want to sign free trade agreements with it after its emergence as a strong force in the world, Textile Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. He said talks are underway with the European Union, Gulf countries, Canada and the United Kingdom for free trade agreements (FTA) and the FTAs with two developed economies of the UAE and Australia will be enforced in this year alone. Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, the minister said it is true that in last few years, Bangladesh and Vietnam have made progress in the field of cotton textiles and garments. Bangladesh is still the least developed country (LDC) and will remain so till 2026 and because of that it gets duty free access in all world markets, he noted. Similarly, Vietnam has a FTA with the European Union due to which they get duty free access to the big market while our garments attract 9 to 10 percent duty in EU markets,

UAE deal poses a survival challenge for Indian bullion refineries

Under this gold will be imported at a duty lower than applicable to refineries

Force multiplier: Meet Lord Karan Bilimoria, India's voice in the UK

'An Indian living in London; but an Indian born and brought up in India: not a second generation Asian but a first generation immigrant - who's totally Indian but feels at home in both countries'

India-GCC grouping expects to revive free trade agreement negotiations

Launch date of negotiation not divulged

India, GCC agree to pursue Free Trade Agreement; resume talks: Piyush Goyal

India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have agreed to pursue a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two regions and resume the negotiations, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India. India's exports to the GCC member countries grew by 58.26 per cent to about USD 44 billion in 2021-22 against USD 27.8 billion in 2020-21, according to data from the commerce ministry. Bilateral trade in goods has increased to USD 154.73 billion in 2021-22 from USD 87.4 billion in 2020-21. Services trade between the two regions was valued at around USD 14 billion in 2021-22, with exports aggregated at USD 5.5 billion and imports at USD 8.3 billion. "We have agreed to pursue the free trade agreement between the GCC and India and resume the negotiations and conclude the same at the earliest," Goyal told reporters here i

Australian Parliament clears path for free trade agreement with India

Both nations prepare for New Year roll-out; DTAA with New Delhi amended, too

Committed to working quickly on UK-India free trade agreement: Rishi Sunak

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the UK government remains committed to working as quickly as possible towards a successful conclusion to the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India, as the majority of the substantive negotiation conversations were completed at the end of last month. At a House of Commons session on the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Thursday, the British Indian leader updated Parliament that he reviewed progress on the FTA during his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since taking charge at 10 Downing Street. He was questioned by Opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer and his own Conservative Party MPs on the timeline for the completion of the agreement with India. I discussed the free trade agreement with India, and both the Prime Minister of India and I committed our teams to working as quickly as possible to see if we can bring a successful conclusion to the negotiations, said Sunak. Without negotiating all these things in publ

India to start talks for new FTA with a region next week: Piyush Goyal

India will be launching negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with a region next week, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. He said that negotiations are going on with countries, including the UK, European Union, Canada and Israel. "Next week, we will be launching one more very important FTA," Goyal said here at a function of consumer electronics. Though the minister did not disclose the name of the region, there is a likelihood that the talks may start with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as the region was keen to increase economic engagement with India. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. India has already implemented a free trade pact with the UAE in May this year. In a free trade agreement, two countries or regions either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they also ease norms to promote trade and .

PM Modi, Britain's Sunak agree on 'enduring importance' of UK-India ties

The UK on Wednesday unveiled a new scheme offering 3,000 places annually to 18 to 30 year-old degree-educated Indian nationals to come to Britain to live and work for up to two years following the first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the G-20 summit here. The British PM's office said the leaders agreed on the "enduring importance" of the UK-India relationship, and of the "living bridge" between our countries and that Sunak passed on his thanks to Modi for the "overwhelming" response of the Indian people to his appointment as the prime minister. Modi also held separate bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and the major focus of all the meetings was to boost defence and economic engagement. After his talks with Sunak, Modi said India ...