Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal visits Norway to discuss possibility of early implementation of FTA between India and EFTA
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has visited Norway to discuss the possibility of early implementation of a free trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA, an official statement said on Saturday.
The agreement, officially dubbed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), was signed in March. The implementation date has not yet been decided.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
“The objective of the visit was to promote and open up a larger market in EFTA countries for Indian exports of goods and services and push for early implementation of USD 100 billion investment,” the commerce ministry said after Berthwal met Secretary of State Tomas Norwall. Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to discuss promoting trade and investment, mobility for Indian professionals, revitalizing existing institutional mechanisms and next steps for TEPA ratification.
In a separate statement, the ministry said that over the past decade, India’s seafood exports have doubled to USD 7.3 billion in value and 17.81 lakh metric tonnes in volume terms.
With 500 EU-approved companies, India’s seafood processing capacity continues to expand, making the EU India’s second largest seafood market with annual purchases of USD 0.95 billion.
Additionally, India is the second largest shrimp supplier to the EU, with an 8 percent market share and contributes 12 percent to the EU’s squid imports.