Commerce Min To Undertake Programme For FTAs' Awareness.

In a first of its kind initiative, commerce ministry will undertake nationwide roadshows to generate awareness about the recently concluded free trade agreements as well as comprehensive partnership agreements.

"Commerce ministry officials will travel across the country to help small and medium enterprises as well as big companies explore tremendous business opportunities in countries with which bilateral trade agreements have been concluded in the recent past," commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said.

According to Khullar, programme is being structured to re-look at trade agreements with Korea, Japan, Malaysia and ASEAN. Khullar was speaking at the Export Summit 2011, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

India signed a free trade agreement with South Korea and ASEAN in 2009, a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Japan in 2010 and a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement with Malaysia in 2010.

Bilateral trade agreements in the past and the ones under negotiations, which include EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, are part of India's strategy to diversify exports into new markets as well as double India's export to $550 billion by 2014.

The phenomenon has taken up in a big way in the last few years with slowdown in demand in traditional markets of US and EU.

"The trade agreements are not just in interest of India but countries are queuing up to crack trade deals with us because of India's steady growth and the huge business opportunity that the country offers to the outer world," Khullar added.

Source : mydigitalfc.com