Piyush Goyal holds meeting to review ongoing FTA negotiations
Aug 30, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 30 : Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday held a meeting with the top officials to review the progress of the ongoing negotiations on the free trade agreements (FTAs).
"Deliberations focused on ways to fast track negotiations to achieve mutually beneficial FTAs, paving the way for increased exports, investments & people to people ties," Piyush Goyal Office twitted.
Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam and other senior officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry attended the meeting.
India has been negotiating free trade agreements with several countries and regions.
After a 9-year lull, India and the European Union (EU) re-launched negotiations for a free trade agreement in June this year.
A trade deal with the European Union would be one of the most significant FTAs for India as EU is its second-largest trading partner after the US. The India-EU merchandise trade has registered an all-time high value of $116.36 billion in 2021-22 with a year-on growth of 43.5 per cent. India's export to the EU jumped 57 per cent in FY 2021-22 to $65 billion. India has a surplus trade with EU.
India and the United Kingdom target to conclude free trade agreement by Diwali this year.
India earlier this year concluded FTAs with Australia and the UAE in a record time. The FTA negotiations are part of India's broader strategy to forge balanced trade agreements with key economies and revamp existing trade pacts to improve trade and investment.
