EU, India will beat expectations by wrapping up FTA talks early: Piyush Goyal

Brescia: India and the EU will beat the expectations of their leaders and are trying to conclude the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks ahead of the year-end deadline, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday.

In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Union Chief Ursula von der Leyen announced that the India-EU FTA will be reached by the end of 2025.

Goyal has already met the European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic thrice in 35 days, the latest one being on June 2 in Paris.


"We have held three meetings in 35 days. We are trying to speed up the negotiations. It shows our shared commitment for the FTA," Goyal said.

The first two meetings between Goyal and Sefcovic were held on May 1 and May 23 in Brussels.

TIES WITH Italy
Goyal said India-Italy bilateral trade is low and suboptimal, and both sides need to work to boost two-way commerce. Currently, bilateral goods trade between the two countries is about $15 billion.

"We want to increase trade, investment, and tourism," Goyal said.

India has proposed to set up an industrial enclave for Italian companies which do business in the country, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday.

"We want to create a home away from home for Italian companies. We want an Italian enclave in one of the industrial smart cities in India," he said at the Italy-India Strategic Economic Partnership forum.