Canadian PM commits to free trade agreements with EU, India
04/04/2011 168
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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Thursday that a re-elected Conservative Government will aim to complete bilateral free trade negotiations with the European Union by 2012 and with India in 2013.
"Canada is a trading nation," Harper said during an election campaign in Halifax on the east coast of Canada. "Canadian businesses and their workers succeed and prosper when they have stable and secure access to markets and customers around the world. "
"Deepening our trading relationships is key to the Next Phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan in order to complete our recovery, create jobs and strengthen families' financial security, " he added.
Free trade agreements with the EU and India will provide improved access to over 1.7 billion new customers for Canadian businesses, and bring an 18-billion-Canadian-dollar GDP boost to Canada's economy, according to official data.
The EU is currently Canada's second-largest trading partner. In 2009, total goods and services trade with EU reached over 98 billion Canadian dollars (about 101.07 billion U.S. dollars), and two-way investment amounted to over 311 billion Canadian dollars.
In the meantime, India is also a vital trading partner for Canada, with bilateral merchandise trade totaling 4.1 billion Canadian dollars last year.
Source: Xinhua News
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