India-australia Free Trade Agreement

India, Australia resume CECA negotiations; stress on boosting economic ties

The negotiations also focused on areas such as government procurement, rules of origin and agri-tech

Next round of India-Australia comprehensive trade pact talks in November

Senior officials of India and Australia are expected to hold their next round of talks for a compressive free trade agreement in November here, the commerce ministry said on Sunday. The two countries implemented an interim trade agreement in December 2022 and are now under negotiations to expand its scope. It said that the tenth round of India-Australia CECA (comprehensive economic cooperation agreement) negotiations was held from 19-22 August in Sydney in the areas of goods, services, digital trade, government procurement, rules of origin and agri-tech. Intense discussions were held on each of these tracks bringing in clarity and understanding for convergence in the remaining provisions, it added. "The next round of CECA negotiations is likely to be held in November," it said in a statement. The Indian delegation was led by Rajesh Agrawal, the Chief Negotiator and Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce and the Australian delegation was led by Ravi Kewalram, the Chief Negoti

India-Indonesia-Australia trilateral talks under IPOI, IORA held today

The three sides held discussions to explore opportunities for collaboration, including under the framework of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

India, Australia to speed up trade deal after Lok Sabha elections

India, Australia trade deal may include deeper market access and outcomes in digital trade & goods

Australian institutions eye India's vocational educational, training sector

Speaking at an event, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green on Monday said that Australia seeks to play a "bigger part" in India's journey to upskill its population

'India is the world's emerging democratic superpower,' says Tony Abbott

'India is a wonderful place to do business. Today, India is a far more business-friendly place than it was a decade ago...' he said

Exports to Australia see upward trend, owing to duty concessions under ECTA

Government officials said that there has been an uptick in exports of products, where duty concessions have been given under the trade deal

Australia and New Zealand leaders considering closer defence ties

Australia and New Zealand leaders agreed on Wednesday to seek closer defence ties as the latter considers sharing advanced military technologies with the United States and Britain through the so-called AUKUS partnership. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made Australia the destination of his first overseas visit since forming a coalition government following his election in October. Luxon said he and his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, agreed at their meeting in Sydney the two countries' defence and foreign ministers would meet in early 2024 to ensure their plans were aligned and coordinated. We know we're facing a more challenging and complex world. Close security and defence relationships we have with our only ally, Australia, is very foundational for New Zealand, Luxon told reporters. New Zealand is committed to doing our share of the heavy lifting in the alliance and I'm determined that New Zealand will continue to be alongside Australia as we seek to advan

India-Australia ECTA: 77% utilisation by Indian exporters in 9 months

In a free trade agreement (FTA), the utilisation rate is one of the key parameters to assess how a trade agreement is faring or the real gains from the deal

Biden to miss Quad meet: A look at the group and its significance

Quad, formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a group of four like-minded, democratic countries which include the United States of America, India, Australia, and Japan

Not seeking permanent immigration visas from any country in FTA: Goyal

India is not seeking permanent immigration visas from any country under a free trade agreement (FTA) and is only looking to engage with trading partners on mobility like temporary visas for students, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. He said that some people mix up mobility and immigration but they are two separate subjects. Mobility is about expanding trade, business, providing temporary visas for people who visit a country either for work or for studies, he said. "India is not seeking permanent immigration visas from any country... We are only looking to engage with countries on mobility. We are concerned only about our ability to give services for business and investments through temporary visas, for students who take training in the post study period... (and) for which we have found a lot of acceptance in all the countries with which we are talking," he told reporters here. He added that post-Covid, the world is realising that remote working is a gr

India, Oz for early conclusion of trade pact talks; eye $100 bn in 5 years

India and Australia on Saturday expressed their commitment for concluding the negotiations for expanding the scope of existing free trade agreement by the end of this year with an aim to push the bilateral trade to USD 100 billion. The issue came up for discussions during the meeting of joint ministerial commission between commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Don Farrell. Farrell is accompanying Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who is here on an official visit. On December 29, last year India and Australia implemented an economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) and are now negotiating to expand its scope for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). "ECTA was the first stage of our economic engagement. We are now entering into phase-2 of our discussions where we are looking at much wider ambit of subjects and taking this into a CECA," Goyal told reporters here. After the first India-Australia summit talks here on

Australian PM to visit India next month to boost bilateral engagement

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to make his maiden trip to India early next month with an aim to boost overall bilateral engagement in a range of areas, including trade, investment and critical minerals. People familiar with the plan for his visit said on Monday that Albanese is expected to begin the visit around March 8 and he and Prime Minister Narerndra Modi are likely to travel to Ahmedabad to witness the fourth cricket Test match between India and Australia. The fourth Test is scheduled to be held at Ahmedabad from March 9-13. It will be Albanese's first visit to India after he became prime minister in May last year. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Australia last week ostensibly to prepare for the visit to India by the Australian prime minister. There is no official announcement of the visit yet. However, Albanese mentioned about his visit to India in a tweet after meeting Jaishankar on Saturday. "It was wonderful to meet with @DrSJaishankar

India-Australia FTA to provide relief to Indian textile exporters: CITI

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, which came into force from Thursday, is set to provide a "big relief" to Indian textile exporters, the Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry said. Under the pact, Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one. India's goods exports to Australia stood at USD 8.3 billion and imports from the country aggregated to USD 16.75 billion in 2021-22. Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry (CITI) Chairman T Rajkumar said he is hopeful that the "India-Australia ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement) will help boost textile and apparel exports as the FTA is slated to provide a big relief to Indian textile exporters who had to pay about 10 per cent customs duty in countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK". Sharing that India's ready-made garment exports to Australia have seen a growth of an average of 11.84 per cent over the last five years, Rajkumar opin

India-Australia trade agreement to greatly benefit MSMEs: Piyush Goyal

The interim pact between India and Australia, also known as Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), has the potential to double bilateral trade to $50 billion in half a decade

Free trade with Australia kicks off; Tamil Nadu sees export gains

India gets preferential access to all products it exports to Australia

India-Australia FTA to help bilateral trade cross $70 bn in next 5 years

The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Australia, which comes into effect from Thursday, will help boost bilateral trade in goods and services to cross USD 70 billion in the next five years, according to economic think tank GTRI. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) has come into force from December 29. Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said trade of value USD 23 billion would become duty-free from day one. This is 93 per cent of merchandise trade of USD 25 billion in 2021-22 between India and Australia. This creates opportunities for more trade in tough times. GTRI estimates suggest that the bilateral trade will cross USD 70 billion in the next five years due to buoyant trade relations and Australia's gradual weaning away from China, GTRI Co-founder Ajay Srivastava said in a statement. India's goods exports to Australia stood at USD 8.3 billion and imports from the country aggregated to USD 16.75 billion in 2021-22. He said while ..

India-Australia interim trade deal kicks in today after eight-month wait

The implementation of the interim trade pact, also known as Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) has the potential to double the bilateral trade between the two countries to $50 billion

Trade agreements with Australia, UAE to help boost exports, says EPCs

Various export promotion councils (EPCs) on Wednesday lauded the trade agreements signed by India with the UAE and Australia, saying the pacts will help the country in boosting exports by granting preferential access to those markets for Indian products. Engineering Exports Promotion Council (EEPC) said that the country has benefited from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97 per cent of its tariff lines which account for 99 per cent of Indian exports to the region in value terms. Eastern regional chairman of EEPC, B D Agarwal, said at an interactive session here that this trend has emerged after signing of the IndiaUAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which became effective from May one, 2022. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which will come into force from December 29, is expected to create 10 lakh jobs, and raise Indian merchandise exports to Australia by USD 10 billion, he said. According to him, the ECT

Australia FTA: Wine industry gears up for foreign market's entry in India

The duty cut regime on Australian wine under the recent trade agreement strikes a balance between protecting the domestic industry and opening the path for greater investments and tie-ups