Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India is trying to conclude several early harvest agreements with proposed free trade agreement (FTA) partners so that their benefits can reach the industry sooner.
An FTA with the United Arab Emirates was close to conclusion, while talks with Australia were at an advanced stage and talks with Israel were underway, the government quoted Goyal as saying in a meeting with heads of top trade and industry associations. was speaking in the meeting. The minister said a comprehensive fast-track dialogue has been initiated with Korea to address concerns arising from the previous agreement on market access. Goyal said there is a need to upgrade the testing facilities and laboratories and businesses need to extend their support in this regard. He also asked the industry to provide guidance for transformative export growth of over $400 billion. Goyal urged the leaders to be proactive in giving inputs especially in areas like FTA talks. The industry should become more demanding, he said.
The minister urged businesses to use a single window for business processes and approvals to the maximum extent possible and sought suggestions for further de-criminalisation of rules and reduction in compliance burden.
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