India, EFTA announce $100B free trade pact to promote investments

India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA on Sunday signed a free trade agreement to help promote investments and exports of key domestic services sectors such as IT, audio-visual, and movement of skilled professionals, Report informs via The Economic Times.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

India’s Union Minister Piyush Goyal, quoting PM Narendra Modi, said, "Despite structural diversities in many aspects, our economies possess complementarities that promise to be a win-win situation for all nations. With the opening up of enormous trading and investment opportunities, we have reached a new level of trust and ambition. The trade agreement symbolizes our shared agreement to open fair, equitable trade, as well as generate growth and employment for the youth."

He further said, "India will extend all possible support to EFTA countries and facilitate industry and businesses not only to achieve the committed targets but also to go beyond them. May this agreement mark the beginning of a new chapter in the journey of our nations towards a more prosperous future for us all."

India had sought an investment commitment of $50 billion during the first 10 years after the implementation of the agreement and another $50 billion over the next five years from the member countries of the bloc and to facilitate the generation of 1 million direct employment in India through such investments.

This commitment would be linked to duty reduction under the agreement.

Sectors related to almost all the industrial goods exported from India to the bloc are expected to benefit from the agreement.

The signing of the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), follows approval from the Union Cabinet on March 7.

The agreement has 14 chapters, including trade in goods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade in services, investment promotion and cooperation, government procurement, technical barriers to trade, and trade facilitation.

India and EFTA have been negotiating the pact since January 2008 to boost economic ties.