According to a report in The economic Times, India is aiming to enter into a Free Trade Agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - a small group of four nations viz., Icelnd, Switzerland, Norway and Leichtenstein. An EFTA Parliamentary Committee delegation visited New Delhi 2-6 April 2008.
The EFTA, formed on 03 May 1960 is an inter governmental organisation engaged in promotion of economic integration of the four member countries through free trade. The EFTA convention was originally signed in January 1960 by seven nations but today only two (Norway & Switzerland) of the original founder members remain while the other two have joined subsequently. They are having Free Trade Agreements with 16 nations and have declarations on cooperation with seven nations. India is one of the two nations which are linked to the EFTA as joint workgroups. Member States of EFTA and the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – successfully finalized their negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement on the 24th April 2008. Their Free Trade Agreement related negotiations with Columbia and Peru is nearing completion.
According to their official website, the EFTA countries' share of the EU trade in services amounted to 120 billion euro or 15% of the EU's external trade in services in 2006. Despite only accounting for 12.5 million inhabitants, the EFTA countries remained the EU’s second most important trading partner in 2006. This agreement is likely to pave the way for increased business with the member countries.
Contributed By:
Prof. Bikramjit Sen
(Globsyn Business School)
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