India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States took a significant step towards deepening their economic engagement with the launch of the EFTA Desk by Invest India on Monday.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal
India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States took a significant step towards deepening their economic engagement with the launch of the EFTA Desk by Invest India on Monday.
This dedicated resource is designed to help companies from the EFTA States prepare for the opportunities unlocked by the EFTA-India Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
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Further this week, over a hundred EFTA businesses will visit India to explore its opportunities, EFTA said in a statement.
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This rich interest by EFTA businesses aligns with the shared goals in the TEPA of investing USD 100 billion and creating 1 million jobs in India over the course of the next 15-20 years, it added.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, said, “With this USD 100 billion FDI, I personally believe that we could be catalysing overall investments of maybe USD 400 or USD 500 billion in the Indian ecosystem.”
“In all the four countries, significant steps have been taken to ratify the TEPA, and we hope to operationalise the agreement in the later part of this year,” Goyal said.
He also mentioned that one million direct jobs could lead to 5-6 million more jobs, both directly and indirectly.
The EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The Desk will serve as a central point of contact for EFTA businesses looking to expand into India, addressing investor concerns and resolving issues that they may face, including providing support and guidance on expansions into new markets and maintaining a comprehensive database of investment opportunities, the EFTA said in a statement.
It is to be noted that the trade between India and EFTA has been growing steadily, reaching USD 24 billion in 2023-24, up from USD 18.65 billion in 2022-23. However, the trade balance remains in favour of the European bloc.
Switzerland is the largest trading partner and investor among the four nations, followed by Norway. Between April 2000 and September 2024, India received USD 10.72 billion in foreign direct investment from Switzerland.
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