India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement will be finalised soon: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan will be in India later this month, adding that the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) is expected to be in the Parliament soon.

"Dan Tehan will be in India later this month and we have had discussions. But he has already assured me when he met me at the WTO meetings that they are very pleased with the outcome of the Australian negotiations and the free trade agreement, the ECTA Agreement and that they will be putting it into Parliament soon. I am told that the tentative timelines are the end of this year," Goyal said while responding to the trade and economic cooperation with Australia.

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA), was signed on April 2, 2022, between Piyush Goyal and Dan Tehan, in a virtual ceremony in presence of Indian PM Narendra Modi and Australian PM Scott Morrison.

IndAus ECTA which is set to provide zero-duty access to 96 per cent of India's exports to Australia including shipments from key sectors such as engineering goods, gems and jewellery, textiles, apparel and leather.

The pact is expected to boost bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 45-50 billion over five years, up from around USD 27 billion, and generate over one million jobs in India, according to a government estimate.

The agreement will also give about 85 per cent of Australia's exports zero-duty access to the Indian market, including coal, sheep meat and wool, and lower-duty access to Australian wines, almonds, lentils, and certain fruits.

Zero-duty access for Indian goods is set to be expanded to 100 per cent over five years under the agreement.

India and Australia enjoy excellent bilateral relations that have undergone transformative evolution in recent years, developing along a positive track, into a friendly partnership.

This is a special partnership characterized by shared values of a pluralistic, parliamentary democracy, Commonwealth traditions, expanding economic engagement, long-standing people-to-people ties and increasing high-level interaction.

The India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was initiated during the India-Australia Leaders' Virtual Summit.

Growing India-Australia economic and commercial relations contribute to the stability and strength of a rapidly diversifying and deepening bilateral relationship between the two countries.

(ANI)

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