India-EFTA TEPA Agreement Officially Comes Into Force
- The Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) came into effect today, aiming to boost trade, investment, and job creation.
- The pact includes a landmark $100 billion investment commitment from EFTA over 15 years, expected to generate 1 million direct jobs in India, with enhanced access to goods, services, and IPR protections.
- An exclusive EFTA Desk has been active since February to assist EFTA businesses in investing and setting up in India, serving as a single-window mechanism and government-business interface.
The India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) is effective from today. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in a press release, stated that the agreement was signed on the 10th of March last year in New Delhi.
EFTA is a significant regional association with a number of emerging opportunities for increasing international trade in goods and services. EFTA nations include Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, and among these, Switzerland is the largest trading partner of India, followed by Norway.
Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement is a new and ambitious agreement that includes, for the first time in any Free Trade Agreement entered into by India which is an investment-linked commitment and employment generation. Our correspondent brings us the details. The pact deals with market access to goods, trade facilitation, promotion of investments, market access to services, intellectual property rights, and trade and sustainable development.
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It has EFTA's market access to 100 percent of non-agricultural products as well as tariff concessions on Processed Agricultural Products. The pact provides a 100 billion US dollar binding commitment of investment in India within 15 years. It will also enable the creation of one million direct jobs with such investment. The TEPA will give a boost to India's exporters by enabling access to specialized inputs and fostering a favorable trade and investment climate.
This would increase Indian goods exports as well as open the avenue for the services sector to penetrate more markets. As per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, there is an exclusive EFTA Desk that has also been functioning since February of this year, which is a one-stop mechanism for facilitation of investment to help EFTA businesses invest, grow, and set up operations in India.
The Desk will also serve as the main interface for creating ongoing business-government interface, with a focus on continuous interaction between India and EFTA partners.
