GCC-India talks on Free Trade Agreement progressing fast, says Indian Minister

India’s discussions for concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the GCC are “progressing fast,” the Minister for Commerce, Industry and Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal, said on Sunday, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).

Goyal specifically cited the UAE as among the countries with which his Ministry is engaged in talks towards reaching an FTA, while addressing a large cross-section of India’s business through the platform of the Jain International Trade Organization.

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Outside the GCC, India is conducting FTA-related talks with the United Kingdom, Australia, and the European Union.

The pace of discussions have now gathered speed, the minister said.

According to Goyal, traders and exporters are the “twin pistons powering the economic growth engine of India. We firmly believe in the capabilities of the business community as well as of start-ups.”

The FTAs will enable India to become a global “trading hub,” Goyal hoped.

Read more: GCC-Indian businessmen urged to tap investment opportunities