New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Thursday said that combined with upcoming free trade agreements (FTAs) and efforts to deepen market access, India could gain access to 75 per cent of global trade at rates lower than competitors.
India’s nine FTAs spanning economies with about $60 trillion GDP will provide preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global trade, Goyal said at an event here, calling for a focused, inclusive and nationwide effort to maximise the utilisation of FTAs to expand India’s trade across the world and ensure that the benefits of enhanced market access reach businesses across the country.
Addressing the National Workshop on “Leveraging FTAs an Outreach Programme” the minister emphasised the need for a concerted effort to translate India’s expanding network of FTAs into greater export opportunities for businesses across the country
The initiative should rapidly take roots across the country and reach the last person, smallest businessperson, trader, entrepreneur, startup and woman entrepreneur across all 780 districts, big and small, said Goyal.
Every contribution, big or small, would be invaluable in achieving the larger objective of transforming India from a largely inward-looking domestic economy into an international player of significance, he added.
The other FTAs that India would conclude over the next few months and couple of years include with Canada, Mexico, Chile, Mercosur, SACU, GCC and Israel, together with efforts to review ASEAN, Korea and Japan or take other steps to secure greater market access.
Goyal further said India was passing through an important phase of its economic journey and highlighted the first-quarter GDP growth of 7.8 per cent at constant prices. He said achieving 7.8 per cent GDP growth amid uncertainty and tremendous turmoil around the world was a significant achievement.
He urged people not to be guided by the “naysayers”. The minister said the GDP numbers were not made by the government, ministers or bureaucrats, but were determined through an elaborate, ground-up and independent process run by the Ministry of Statistics, which has been in place for decades.
Goyal said the trading patterns of the United States and European Union were different, with entirely different costs of operation and labour costs. India, therefore, had to assess the rates paid by competing countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh in other markets.
He said that as soon as the United States was able to provide India a preferential rate in comparison with India’s competition, the trade pact would be finalised and the finer details announced.
India has set a $1 trillion export target for the current year, representing about 16 per cent growth.
