India for FTAs with Russia, Peru for enhancing trade

The Dollar Business Bureau India will soon sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Russia and Peru as a process of enhancing trade partnerships with these nations. The Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher made these statements on Thursday, speaking at an International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF)-2015 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The Commerce Secretary said that a joint working group has been setup to analyse India’s trade feasibilities with Russia, Peru and further negotiations for trade pact will start after the group submits its report, which is expected to happen in the next three to six months. The Government of India is also mulling to enhance its economic cooperation with other nations including Africa, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, Latin America and the Carribean. India’s efforts are also going on for a trade with various African regions, which would benefit India owing to its long-standing trade relations with the African region and it’s the region where India has got larger perspective for a stronger trade, said the Commerce Secretary, according to the sources. Rajeev Kher informed that India was also willing for similar negotiations with its Asian neighbours which include South Asia, South-east Asia, Central Asia and West Asia. The scaling up of trade with the Latin America and the Carribean would also come in favour to India, as India’s source crude imports to over 20% come from these regions. While India is on process of forging stronger ties, China has already moved ahead for stronger ties with the Latin America and the Carribean. In this regard, Beijing, between 8-9^th January, 2015, had hosted the first ministerial-level forum which included the the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CLAC). During this forum, China projected that two-way trade between China and CLAC regions would double over the next decade to $500 billion. So now it’s the India’s turn to forge stronger ties with CLAC States in order to stay in competition with its all time competitor. Speaking on the manufacturing sector as a part of Make in India, Rajeev Kher says that in order to boost the Indian manufacturing industry, the main focus has to be laid upon the services sector that holds the key for manufacturing projects. The service sector accounts for around 42% share of India’s trade, he informed. The Commerce Secretary further added that the Foreign Trade Policy to be announced would guide India in enhancing its economic ties with its trading partners.  

This article was published on February 26, 2015.