Exporters' body FIEO has urged Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to fast-track the long-pending free-trade agreement (FTA) between EU and India and conclude it in an expeditious manner.
India and the EU are negotiating a comprehensive FTA, officially dubbed as the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), but the talks are stalled since May 2013 due to differences on several matters.
FIEO President S K Saraf said Vietnam, a strong competitor of India, has already signed a similar agreement with the EU, which is likely to be operational by July-August 2020.
With the signing of the agreement, Vietnamese products will get further edge in the EU markets as the landed price of their products would become cheaper as compared to Indian products, he said.
He said the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement has also been signed and, due to this, Vietnam will be attracting a lot of investments moving out of China particularly those with the EU as their market.
He added that due to these developments, Indian exporters are quite concerned and would request for acceleration in the process of completion of a similar agreement with the EU.
