Key Highlights

• Government holds extensive stakeholder consultations to shape FTAs that protect domestic industry.
• FTAs are structured to complement India's economy and align with both public and national interests.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal said that before concluding on any Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) the government speaks to all stakeholders at length and to an extent that offense and defense interests of Indian industry are taken into consideration.

Addressing an occasion marking the third anniversary of Vanijya Bhawan, he said that seeking FTAs with the trading partners whose economies are more complementing than competing with that of India is very crucial. He again stated that the future free trade agreements will no longer disregard national and population interests and the issues of the industry will be studied thoroughly during the negotiations.

In the retrospection he mentioned Vanijya Bhawan as a sign of modern and efficient as well as integrated governance, as it is India changing dynamically in trade and industry in the past 11 years. He quoted the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) as a major change in government buying, which has opened up more opportunities to the local entrepreneurs throughout the country (including in far flung places) to get into it.

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He observed that e-commerce also has become an effective instrument of price finding and inclusion of local producers into supply chains on a national level. He also pointed out to the need of shared responsibility within the ministry, that demanded that internal efficiencies be advanced, including a 50 per cent cut in housekeeping personnel by the end of the same period next year in an even broader plan of operational excellence.