LDCs getting duty-free access to Indian market, says Minister
India is keen to enter into Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with interested countries in the South, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has told Ministers from 13 countries – Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Haiti, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Sudan, Timor Leste and Zimbabwe.
India is providing unilateral duty-free market access to the least-developed countries (LDCs) since 2008 through the duty-free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme of India, he said at the “Voice of Global South Summit” under the theme “Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose”, held on 12-13 January 2023.
Goyal noted that the southern countries are also helping to drive world investment. “Indian companies are also investing abroad in a big way, including in the Southern countries.”
“Financial cooperation between developing countries is also enabling developing countries to engage more in the global policy debates and shape the international agenda,” he said at the summit session on ‘Developing Synergies in the South: Trade, Technology, Tourism, Resources’.
Goyal highlighted that the countries of the Global South are now contributing to more than half of the world’s economic growth with South-South trade touching US$5.3 trillion in 2021.
In this regard, he called for enhanced trade linkages for the mutual benefit of all countries.
He said, “Countries of the Global South can work together to exchange best practices in models of connectivity that we employ in our countries.”
Emphasising on the use of technology for development, Goyal shared India’s experience that an inclusive digital architecture can bring about socio-economic transformation.
Goyal underlined that India is ready to share its development experience with the global South, and is eager to learn from other fellow countries and “bring forth the matters of our common concern for further discussion and cooperation towards our joint sustainable and inclusive growth”.
The Summit is focused issues pertaining to the Global South and those issues before key global forums like G20, the UN and other multilateral settings. fiinews.com
