India and Australia are all set to open negotiations on free trade following a feasibility study that showed each sides would gain ASD 30 billion over 20 years from lowering barriers.

According to Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson, preliminary talks on a deal with India would kick off next week in Canberra with his visiting Indian counterpart Anand Sharma.

The minister praised India government's formal agreement to begin negotiations on a free-trade agreement as a milestone in diplomatic relations.

"India is an enormous, rapidly expanding market for Australian businesses," he said.

"Such a deal would broaden the base of merchandise trade, remove barriers to services trade, facilitate and encourage investment and address behind-the-border obstacles to trade."

While a free-trade agreement to achieve zero tariffs would be bilateral, Emerson stressed the importance of achieving trade liberalization with India through multilateral forums.

May 2^nd, 2011

Source: ptinews.com

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