All members of EFTA interested to discuss FTAs with India: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal termed India ‘a strong force in the world’ and said the country is in a sweet spot as the world wants India to be its trusted partner.

All four country members of EFTA are interested to discuss Free Trade Agreements with India, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has said.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organisation of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

As per him, the ministers of all four countries will be visiting India in April to take the discussions forward.

“There are a host of countries which have been talking to us, wanting to do free trade agreements or expand their earlier agreements. In this month we had a number of foreign visits, including those from developed and developing countries. They have requested us for deepening our relationship. Cuba has come, Switzerland has come in twice,” the minister added, speaking at the Assocham annual session in Delhi.

The minister termed India ‘a strong force in the world’ and said the country is in a sweet spot as the world wants India to be its trusted partner.

In recent years, India has signed multiple FTAs with trade partners, including with Australia and the United Arab Emirates, which have been hailed to be the fastest in the world. FTA negotiations with the United Kingdom as well as the European Union are on.