ALBAWABA – India has signed an extensive $100 billion trade pact with European Free Trade Association that includes removal of fees on industrial products importing from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, with $100 billion in investments, set to provide one million job opportunities in the country, according to Bloomberg, for 15 years in return.
Coming two months ahead of general elections, the trade pact, considered to have been 16 years in the making, is expected to increase India’s appeal a top market for investors wishing to expand their supply chains diversification, Bloomberg adds, with the private sector pushing investments.
Piyush Goyal, India’s Trade Minister, has said “It is the first time in history of the world that we are inking an agreement with a binding commitment to invest $100 billion in India from the EFTA countries,” adding that “Investor confidence in India is at an all-time high”
India is set to provide equal treatment and trade opportunities to the bloc’s accounting, insurance, computer, and health sectors. With Goyal adding that the free trade pact is now India’s most advanced contract to date.
In exchange, the European countries would have more straightforward procurement of electrical equipment, processed food and drink, and a potential customer base of 1.4 billion people in one of the main economies with the quickest rate of growth in the world.
