<\/p>\n
India and the four-member European trade bloc EFTA, including Norway and Switzerland, signed a $100-billion free trade agreement on Sunday to promote investment and exports, officials said.<\/p>\n
The deal will see the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) \u2014 made up of non-European Union nations, including Iceland and Liechtenstein \u2014 invest $100 billion over 15 years in India, the world\u2019s fifth largest economy, India\u2019s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) marks a historic milestone in our growing partnership,\u201d Goyal said after the signing in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
The agreement \u201cwill pave the path for mutual growth and prosperity\u201d by boosting exports, promoting investment and creating employment, he added.<\/p>\n
The deal was signed after several rounds of negotiations spanning 16 years.<\/p>\n
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the trade agreement \u201csymbolises our shared commitment to open, fair and equitable trade\u201d, according to a statement read out at the signing ceremony.<\/p>\n
Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said the deal \u201cwill allow us to make better use of our economic potential and create additional opportunities for both India and the EFTA states\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEFTA countries gain market access to a major growth market\u2026 India, in return, will attract more foreign investment from EFTA, which will ultimately translate into an increase in good jobs\u201d, he added, speaking in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
EFTA was established in 1960 to promote free trade and economic integration between its members. In 2021, it was the 10th largest trader in the world in terms of merchandise, and the eighth largest in services.<\/p>\n
In recent years, India has signed trade agreements with Australia and the United Arab Emirates. A long-talked-about trade deal with Britain is also said to be in the final stages.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India and the four-member European trade bloc EFTA, including Norway and Switzerland, signed a $100-billion free trade agreement on Sunday to promote investment and exports, officials said. The deal will see the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) \u2014 made up of non-European Union nations, including Iceland and Liechtenstein \u2014 invest $100 billion over 15 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/03\/1019032972822da.jpg?r=190414","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t