All 27 EU nations support FTA with India: Piyush Goyal

Mumbai, Sep 4 (IANS) Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that all 27 European Union member states support the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the bloc and want to complete the formalities to bring the pact into force at the earliest. 

Addressing the India-Belgium high-level dialogue here, the minister said that such unanimous support was very rare in the European context and all sections of India were also supportive of the deal.

"I assure you it has been deftly negotiated, protecting sensitive sectors on both sides. Therefore, there has been not one murmur of dissent against the India-EU FTA," Goyal remarked.

There are strong benefits for India’s labour-intensive sectors such as fisheries, textiles and footwear. Besides, exports of chemicals and pharmaceutical goods are also expected to go up once the FTA kicks in.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever arrived in Mumbai on Friday from New Delhi and was received by Maharashtra's Marketing and Protocol Minister Jayakumar Raval at the airport.

His engagements in Mumbai include meetings with stakeholders from the diamond, ports and logistics sectors, which will further strengthen India-Belgium economic ties.

The Belgian Prime Minister said that the India-EU FTA comes at a critical moment as global trade faces rising protectionism and uncertainty.

He described the agreement as an "expression of strategic openness", saying it reflected mutual trust and respect and would make the two economies more resilient to disruptions and coercion.

"We are sailing through rough waters, but India and Europe have chosen another route," De Wever said, adding that the two sides had chosen partnership at a time when markets were increasingly being shut off and tariffs imposed

During his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two leaders set a target to double bilateral trade between India and Belgium in the next five years, in the backdrop of the successful conclusion of the India-EU FTA. Currently, the trade is about $13 billion.

The two sides also established an Investment Fast-Track Mechanism to facilitate and promote Belgian investments in India and institutionalised a regular business engagement in the form of the India-Belgium Business Forum. All these measures are expected to increase and diversify bilateral trade and investment relations.

They also reviewed the ongoing engagement between Belgium's sovereign wealth fund and India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, NIIF. Fintech cooperation was also discussed between the two leaders.