India, Mauritius conclude second round of talks for FTA

Source: The Economic Times, Apr 19, 2018

New Delhi: India and Mauritius today concluded the second round of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments.

The three-day talks for Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) started here on Tuesday, a government official said.

During the deliberations, trade in goods, services besides economic cooperation were discussed.

In an FTA, two trading partners cut or eliminate duties on majority of goods besides liberalising norms to promote services trade and boost investments.

According to experts, India may not get huge benefit in goods sector as Mauritius is a small market, but services sectors such as IT and tourism hold huge potential to enhance economic ties.

Island nation Mauritius is the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India. In 2016-17, India received USD 15.72 billion.

The bilateral trade between the countries stood at about USD 900 million in 2016-17.

 

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Sweden announces $ 6 million as seed money for innovation projects in India

Source: The Economic Times, Apr 18, 2018

STOCKHOLM: India and Sweden on Tuesday signed a joint innovation partnership and agreed on a joint action plan with a seed money of $ 6 million from here to push PM Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative besides agreeing to work on a security agreement that would enable intelligence sharing.

Taking forward their defence cooperation including joint production the two sides decided to strengthen their defence partnership. The two countries agreed that the innovation partnership will be a ‘win-win” outcome.

India, Nordic countries vow to strengthen ties

Source: IBEF.org, Apr 18, 2018

Stockholm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his counterparts from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark today vowed to deepen cooperation between India and the Nordic countries, as the leaders deliberated on key issues of security, economic growth and climate change.

Modi and the leaders of the five Nordic countries participated in the first India-Nordic Summit co-hosted by India and Sweden here.

Modi, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Finnish Premier Juha Sipila, Iceland Premier Katrin Jakobsdottir, Norwegian Premier Erna Solberg and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven participated at the Summit titled ‘India-Nordic Summit:Shared Values, Mutual Prosperity’.

Swedish companies committing a fresh 1.1 billion dollars investment in India

Source: The Economic Times, Apr 17, 2018

Companies in Sweden, the largest Nordic economy in Europe is committing a fresh 1.1 billion dollars investment in India led by some of its major companies Volvo, IKEA, AstraZaneca amongst others.

Having committed $1.5 billion in the past three years, the additional investment that is lined up will be for the next two years. Sweden is investing in India more than it did in the “last few decades” said Carsten Gronblad, the Trade commissioner to India.

Sweden, India agree to strengthen cooperation on defence

Source: The Economic Times, Apr 18, 2018

India and Sweden will soon sign an agreement on sharing of classified information required for defence manufacturing and co-production in India, as the two sides look forward to open a new chapter in their defence partnership.

A bilateral pact on classified information sharing is on the cards, Swedish defence minister Carl Anders Peter Hultqvist told ET in an exclusive interaction ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Swedish leaders and defence majors.

Swedish defence major SAAB has shown interest in manufacturing Gripen aircraft in India under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. “We want to develop defence partnership with India like we have done with Brazil through technology transfer and license.

SAAB fighter jets are among the best in the world and offered at competitive rates,” said Hultqvist.

India, Russia sign 7 defence deals

Source: Business Standard, Apr 16, 2018

Chennai: As a result of year-long talks between the governments of India and Russia on availability of spare parts for defence equipment this country had bought from there, seven agreements were signed between Indian and Russian companies on Friday at the Defence Expo in Chennai, for indigenous manufacture.

The ministry of defence had identified 48 items covering all major platforms which can be made in India with Russian collaboration. The products to get support include helicopters, aircraft and naval systems.

In the Third India-Russia Military Industrial Conference between the two countries, held at DefExpo 18, the Indian manufacturers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) from Russia had discussion on the final aspects before the signing.

India, EU try to revive free trade talks as US shadow looms over world trade

Source: The Hindu Business Line, Apr 11, 2018

New Delhi: India is looking for greater market access in the European Union for items such as textiles and leather and seeking ‘data secure’ status to the country at the ongoing bilateral trade talks in Brussels where negotiators from both sides are making a last-ditch effort to re-start the stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.

“With the US adopting an aggressive posture against its trade partners, including the EU, the bloc may be in a more flexible mood this time round. It could be a last political effort by both sides to save the free trade talks,” a government official told BusinessLine.