Trade Unions and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that he expected at least two more free trade agreements to be signed in 2023. Bandwidth for bilateral trade to meet demands from smaller trading partners like New Zealand, where he amounts to US$350 million.
“India is working from a strong position today and is negotiating with confidence,” Goyal said, adding that the country will sign at least two free trade agreements.
At an event marking the operational launch of the Indo-Australia economic cooperation and trade agreement signed in April this year, Goyal said January itself has been filled with meetings with officials from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and overseas stakeholders. said.
After handing over certificates of origin for the first Indian goods to be sent to Australia after the deal, Mr Goyal said the FTA would benefit many sectors including textiles, gems and jewellery, as well as information technology. . double taxation.
Mr Goyal said he expects Indian IT firms’ bills to Australia to rise from $200 million today to $1 billion in the next five to seven years.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which India pulled out of in 2019, would effectively become a free trade deal with China, Goyal said, adding that India’s industries have been hit hard by previous UPA governments starting negotiations. He added that he was “petrified” by the attempted movement. same.
He called the strike an economically wise and prudent decision. As of now, India has separate trade agreements with 13 of her 15 countries in her RCEP, with only New Zealand and China remaining, under the agreement with Australia.
On a conservative basis, the ministry said it expects bilateral trade between India and Australia to rise to US$31 billion over five years with the entry into force of the free trade agreement.
According to Goyal, the agreement is a win-win document with complementarity as a fundamental building block, allowing India access to cheaper raw materials such as coal from Australia, and India’s finished goods He added that it would have a market in Australia.
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With Australia’s new government ratifying the deal, 98% of India’s exports will now enter the country tariff-free, Mr Goyal said.
Meanwhile, when asked about former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian’s criticism of tariffs undermining the government’s production-related incentive system, he said that the country’s inward-looking attitude to trade and that the government “want to make a national champion” about the disadvantages brought to Indian companies by the urge to Goyal said the former CEA wants India to open up once and for all while he favors the government adopting a coordinated approach.
“We believe it is important to coordinate opening up to allow enough time for the Indian industry to mature, develop and compete on a level playing field,” Mr Goyal said.
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