India, EFTA countries discuss resumption of talks for trade pact

The EFTA includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland as its members and is a non-European Union (EU) bloc. The meeting was attended by Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal; Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway Jan Christian Vestre; Swiss State Secretary at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO Helene Budliger Artieda along with Martin Eyjólfsson, Permanent Secretary of State of Iceland at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Kurt Jäger, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to EFTA, WTO and the UN in Geneva; and Henri Gétaz, Secretary-General of the EFTA.

“The meeting provided an opportunity for both sides to exchange views on the state of play of their negotiations and explore ways to advance the talks.The participants acknowledged the challenges posed by the current global economic and trade environment, as well as the need to
address the bilateral trade and economic partnership issues in a constructive and pragmatic manner. Both sides agreed to continue their efforts to resolve all outstanding issues and work towards deepening and strengthening the economic partnership, while contributing to a more inclusive global trading system,” a joint communiqué released after the meeting stated.

The EFTA, which is an intergovernmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade, was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European Community. Negotiations on a broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement between the EFTA states and India were officially launched in January 2008 following consideration of the recommendations of a joint EFTA-India study group.