Agencies
New Delhi, Mar 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the signing of the trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA is a “watershed moment” as it symbolises shared commitment to open, fair and equitable trade.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
The Prime Minister said India will extend all possible support to these countries and facilitate industry and businesses, not only to achieve the committed targets but also to go beyond them.
In the agreement, the EFTA bloc has committed to invest USD 100 billion in India over the next 15 years.
“The Tenth of March 2024 marks a new turn and a watershed moment in the bilateral relationship between India and EFTA countries,” Modi said.
He said the global leadership of the four nations in innovation, R&D across diverse areas such as digital trade, banking and financial services, transport and logistics, industrial machinery, biotechnology, pharma, chemicals, food processing, and clean energy, will open up new doors of collaboration.
“Heartiest Congratulations and best wishes to the negotiators and signatories involved in the signing of India-EFTA Trade and Economic Participation Agreement (TEPA),” Modi said in a written message.
The Prime Minister's statement was read by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal here in the presence of ministers and officials of EFTA countries.
“In the last 10 years, India's economy has taken a quantum leap, moving from being the world's eleventh largest economy to the fifth largest. Our next goal is to make India's economy in the world,” the Prime Minister said.
The “well-balanced” trade deal reflects the respective developmental aspirations of both sides, he added.
“On the most pioneering free trade agreements ever concluded between our countries, TEPA emphasises our steadfast commitment to shared prosperity and our drive to cultivate a stronger, more inclusive partnership,” he said.
Despite structural diversities in many aspects, the Prime Minister said, the economies of the two sides 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 symbolises our shared commitment to open, fair, equitable trade as well as generating growth and employment for the youth,” he said.
India-EFTA two-way trade was USD 18.65 billion in 2022-23 compared to USD 27.23 billion in 2021-22. The trade deficit was USD 14.8 billion in the last fiscal.
Switzerland is the largest trading partner of India, followed by Norway in the bloc.
