IMPRESSIONS from a Cross-section

Topic

How do you perceive the re-launch of EU-India trade negotiations?

India-EU FTA will provide EU with better access to a huge & rapidly growing market

On the margins of the EU-India Summit in Porto, Portugal, the EU-India Business Roundtable took place virtually to strengthen bilateral cooperation in several areas and to support increased trade and investment.

Markus J Beyrer
Director General, BusinessEurope

The relaunch of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an essential step forward for both our economies. India and the EU will both profit from strengthening bilateral cooperation in the areas of climate, digital and healthcare, and from increased trade and investment. The EU is India's largest trading partner with about 11 per cent of its total trade, worth around €80 billion, and the EU is India's top foreign investor. Both sides should use this window of opportunity, based on our shared values, commitment to rules-based multilateralism, and benefit from mutual economic opportunities.

Chandrajit Banerjee
Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry

Indian industry welcomes the announcement of resumption of formal negotiations on the India-EU trade deal at the India-EU Summit, and is ready to support the negotiations in any way possible. A pact on trade should benefit the EU with better access to a huge and rapidly growing market as well as help India access technology which could qualitatively upgrade the Indian economy.

António Saraiva
President, CIP—the Portuguese Business Confederation

At the EU-India Business Roundtable, we brought together the European and Indian representatives of the private sector, with the aim of boosting economic relations and building a platform of cooperation and business opportunities between our entrepreneurs. We have set an ambitious agenda and we wish not only to bring our businessmen closer together, but to shape the EU-India economic agenda in its many topics, so that companies can become important drivers for a successful rapprochement between the two economic blocks. We believe the MoU we have signed with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will contribute to untap the potential of present economic bilateral relations between Portugal and India.

Published on: 11/05/2021

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.

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