India, European Free Trade Association States meet to boost economic partnership

New Delhi [India], April 27 : India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States, including Norway and Switzerland, gathered in New Delhi to boost bilateral trade and economic partnership.

According to a statement, "Today, Ministers and high-level representatives from India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) gathered in New Delhi to discuss the prospects of resuming their negotiations towards a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA)."

The meeting provided an opportunity for both sides to exchange views on the state of play of their negotiations and explore ways to advance the talks.

During the meeting, the participants acknowledged the challenges posed by the current global economic and trade environment, as well as the need to address the bilateral trade and economic partnership issues in a constructive and pragmatic manner.

Both sides agreed to continue their efforts to resolve all outstanding issues and work towards deepening and strengthening the economic partnership while contributing to a more inclusive global trading system.

The high-level delegations were composed of Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce &

Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution and Textiles of India; Jan Christian

Vestre, Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway; Helene Budliger Artieda, Swiss State Secretary

at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO; Martin Eyjolfsson, Permanent Secretary of

State of Iceland at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Kurt Jager, Ambassador and Permanent

Representative of Liechtenstein to EFTA, WTO and the UN in Geneva; and Henri Getaz, Secretary General of the European Free Trade Association.

Meanwhile, Goyal tweeted, "Met European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Ministerial delegation led by Ms Helene Budliger, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Switzerland. With India offering a large market, exchanged views on further strengthening the economic partnership with EFTA member nations."