Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday held key trade talks in Brussels with Christophe Hansen, who is the European Commissioner of Agriculture and Food, and Maros Sefcovic, European commissioner for Trade and Economic Security as well as Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, as India and the EU continue to build upon the FTA that was sealed earlier this year.
Piyush Goyal in his meeting with Christophe Hansen, talked about moving forward on a geographical indications agreement, protecting quality products, and strengthening India-EU partnership.
While in his meeting with Maros Sefcovic, the Union Minister deliberated upon swift ratification of the FTA, and targeting its entry into force in 2027, that could be a true game-changer for both our economies.
Piyush Goyal Talks About De-Risking Dependence in Global Supply Chain
On the sidelines of the third India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Brussels, Piyush Goyal said the council has helped both sides move from discussions to delivery.
Both the EU and India are committed to de-risk dependencies on certain critical areas, he said.
“In fact, the TTC today has become an important pillar of our engagement. The working group, which deals with matters around trade, has made steady and tangible progress. We have concluded a work program on foreign direct investment screening. We’ve exchanged best practices and (it) will help further speed up flow of Investments on both sides,” he said.
The two sides, Goyal said, are committed to ensuring that their work is outcome-oriented in all areas, such as market access, harmonising standards, operationalising key supply chain imperatives, and greater collaboration in deep tech startups, innovation ecosystem, and advanced manufacturing.
“It’s important that areas like pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, and agri-food will also be important subjects to bring our two economies closer together,” he said.
He added that the India-EU free trade agreement will be signed later this year.
EU Trade Commissioner On Market Access, WTO Reforms, FTA
Meanwhile, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said that the bilateral discussions focused on resolving market access issues and the need for reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Both sides also discussed the progress of the work leading to the swift ratification of the free trade agreement.
“The FTA opens the door to tremendous opportunities because it will establish a secure and stable commercial framework that will help us to mitigate the risks associated with the current geopolitical volatility,” he said.
He added that an investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications, on which the negotiations will start, will further strengthen the EU-India economic relationship.
The TTC serves as the highest institutional mechanism for cooperation on trade, trusted technology and economic security.
Goyal co-chaired the TTC Ministerial Meeting alongside the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Jitin Prasada.
The three working groups of TTC are on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance, and Digital Connectivity; Clean and Green Technologies; and Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains.
Piyush Goyal on India-US Trade Deal
Earlier on Monday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and the US teams are fully engaged for a trade pact that is balanced, commercially meaningful, and delivers tangible benefits for businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers.
He said that he had a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer last month.
“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to an agreement that is balanced, commercially meaningful, and delivers tangible benefits for businesses, farmers, workers, and consumers in both countries. Our teams remain fully engaged in achieving this objective,” Goyal said in a social media post.
With inputs from PTI
