The FTAs will help push India's growth and create more jobs in the country, Goyal said as negotiations for an FTA are on with the UK, Canada, Israel, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. He added that India was looking for fair, equitable and win-win partnerships with other countries or blocs.
"By next year, we would be able to conclude an FTA with the EU," Goyal said while speaking at an inaugural Session of ‘Indian Merchant’s Chamber (IMC) I
India has already concluded pacts with the UAE and Australia recently.
The India-UAE FTA, which came into effect this month, will provide a large market to our labour intensive exports and is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods to $100 bn, he said.
The India Australia ECTA aims at boosting bilateral trade to $100 bn by 2030 from current level of around $27.5 bn.
"For the first time in a decade, we are making massive progress in trade deals with developed nations', he remarked.
Already, three rounds of negotiations have been held with the UK and the fourth round will take place soon, Goyal said. He will be meeting the representatives from the UK on May 26-27.
With India recording $38bn worth of exports in April, the highest ever for the month, Goyal said that it indicated that India was emerging as a manufacturing hub for high-class products.
This indicates that programmes like the performance linked incentive scheme and the infrastructure push are bearing the expected results, Goyal said.
He further said that the government is working to capitalise on demographic dividend to have investment-driven, export-led growth with greater engagement with the rest of the world in years to come.
He pointed at a reduction in Corporate Tax rates, improving Ease of Doing Business, FDI Policy reforms, Reduction in Compliance Burden, PM Gati Shakti, Make in India, are some of the initiatives the Centre has taken to encourage investments.
Goyal urged the industry to invest in India while speaking of India's ‘limitless possibilities and countless opportunities for domestic and international investors’ which has been made possible by the collective efforts of industry and the Government.
