Germany’s Merkel renews push for FTA with India

NEW DELHI: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday there was a need for a fresh attempt to restart talks on finalising a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union.

Merkel, who is in India along with several cabinet colleagues and a business delegation, began talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on trade, investment, regional security and climate change. A free trade pact with India has been a long-pending demand from Germany which is India’s largest trading partner in Europe. The pact has been in discussion for years.

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With more than 1,700 German companies operating in India, a free trade pact could help minimise the uncertainty experienced by German investors after an investment protection agreement between the two countries ended in 2016.

While addressing an audience at the Indo-German Chambers of Commerce, Merkel said she had an open discussion with Modi about problems faced by German companies and difficulties reported by small and medium enterprises to find a way around the “bureaucracy labyrinth”.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2019.

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