India on Monday announced closure of negotiations for a free trade agreement signed with New Zealand.
India has inked 18 trade deals including ones with Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Australia.
Among other specifics, all Indian goods including labour-intensive sectors like textiles, plastic items, leather and engineering goods will enter at zero duty in New Zealand as a result of the FTA.
India on Monday announced closure of negotiations for a free trade agreement signed with New Zealand, its 18th deal so far, as the country aims to boost bilateral trade and investments.
The India-New Zealand FTA is expected to be signed in the next three months and it is likely to come into force next year.
Since 2014, India has signed six trade pacts with Mauritius, the UAE, Australia, EFTA, and the UK.
What is a Free Trade Agreement?
A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an economic arrangement between two or more countries where they agree either to end or significantly reduce customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides cutting down non-trade barriers on a significant value of imports from partner countries and easing norms to promote services exports and bilateral investments.
A zero-duty entry into partner country markets helps in the diversification and expansion of export markets. Such pacts attract foreign investment to stimulate domestic manufacturing. They allow access to raw materials, intermediate products and capital goods for value-added manufacturing.
FTAs Signed By India So Far
India has inked trade deals with Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Australia, the UAE, Mauritius, the 10-nation bloc ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and four European nations' bloc EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).
In addition, India is negotiating trade agreements with a number of its trading partners, including the US, New Zealand, the European Union (EU), Chile, Peru, and Israel.
What does the India-New Zealand FTA entail?
All Indian goods including labour-intensive sectors like textiles, plastic items, leather and engineering goods will enter at zero duty in New Zealand. New Zealand has given a commitment to invest (FDI) USD 20 billion over 15 years.
Further, India has secured commitments across a wide range of high-value services sectors including IT and IT-enabled services, professional services, education, financial services, tourism, construction and other business services.
The FTA also opens Skilled Employment Pathways through a new Temporary Employment Entry Visa pathway for Indian professionals in skilled occupations, with a quota of 5,000 visas at any given time and a stay of up to three years.
