| Syllabus: GS-II, Subject: International relations, Topic: Regional and global groupings, Issue: India and EFTA |
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Highlights of the trade agreement:
- Aims to increase FDI into India by $50 billion within 10 years, potentially generating one million direct jobs.
- Addressing trade deficit with Switzerland due to gold imports by reduced tariffs under the EFTA agreement.
- Eliminates duties on most industrial goods exported to India, including pharmaceutical products, machinery, watches, fertilizers, and chemical products.
- Most agricultural items are excluded from the agreement, but EFTA’s market access offer covers 100% of non-agricultural products.
- Services sector a vital part of the agreement will facilitate services exports and the movement of skilled personnel.
The way ahead:
- India aims for $2 trillion in exports by 2030, requiring policy action such as:
- Lowering tariffs and signing deeper free trade agreements.
- Emphasis on safeguarding national interests in trade negotiations.
- Measures needed to fully capitalize on benefits from trade agreements.
| +1 Advantage for Mains ( data point):
·       Current EFTA investment in India stood at $10.7 billion in 2022. ·       Switzerland is India’s largest trading partner in this bloc of nations, followed by Norway. |
