WTO deadlock should not hamper mkt access: Ficci

NEW DELHI: The government should not allow the collapse of Doha round of WTO talks to hamper India's market access and instead launch an all-out strategy to ink bilateral and regional agreements with complementary economies such as EU, USA, Japan and Australia, industry body Ficci said on Wednesday .

"As the future course of WTO negotiations seems uncertain, India should aggressively step up bilateral engagements with right partners, which could serve as significant instruments in obtaining greater market access for our goods and services," FICCI president Saroj Poddar said in a release.

Greater economic cooperation, including trade in goods & services as well as investment, with these countries would make economic sense not only because of the recent failure of WTO talks, but also due to sharp rise in our bilateral trade with these economies, complementarities of business, and their significant position in global market, Poddar added.

During the latest phase of WTO negotiations EU showed some seriousness and willingness to cut its trade-distorting farm subsidies in line with the G-20 proposal, it said.

On the other hand, even though currently there are considerable gaps between Indian and US negotiating approaches and positions, market access issues with the US could be pursued under the Trade Policy Forum between both the countries.

Industry chamber asserted that India's efforts should also be directed towards reviving the Doha round of negotiations.