Three developed economies – the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom – aim to establish a dependable supply chain in India as a corollary to their proposed trade deals with New Delhi, people in the know said on Monday, adding that the matter has been discussed during recent visits of Indian officials to the US and Europe. A mutually beneficial, cost-effective collaboration in several manufacturing sectors is possible under the investment chapter of the proposed free trade agreements (FTAs), they said, requesting anonymity. FTA partners can leverage each other’s strengths to build sector-specific supply chains and become competitive in international markets, they said, adding that a free trade deal between India and the US would give Apple immense confidence in making India as a manufacturing base. Already, there are reports that Apple plans to source all US iPhones from India in two years. “Many multinational firms of Europe are also contemplating to establish similar supply chains in India for their manufacturing ventures. For them, India is cost competitive with the required skilled manpower, resources and rule of law. An FTA will ensure that their investments are well protected,” one of them said, adding that the matter was also discussed with the other sides during the FTA negotiations. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is on a week-long visit to London, Brussels and Oslo to strengthen trade and investment relationships with individual countries and help in the early resolution of issues related to the UK and the EU FTAs. “Arrived in London for two days of engaging discussions aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations. In my first engagement, held a productive meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade @JReynoldsMP to advance Free Trade Agreement negotiations, reinforcing our commitment to deepening India-UK economic ties,” the minister said on Monday in a post on X. Last week, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal visited the Netherlands and the Republic of Croatia, both members of the EU. On April 22-23, he held bilateral discussions with Croatian state secretaries for foreign trade and economy to advance trade and investment relations and promote sectoral collaborations. Their discussions also centred around taking forward the EU-India FTA negotiations. “The meeting took place days after the visit of the EU president and 27 commissioners to India. That was the first visit of the College of Commissioners outside the European continent since the start of their new mandate and also the first such visit in the history of India-EU bilateral ties,” a second person said. Besides officials, Barthwal met industry representatives in the Netherlands last week. There he also met semiconductor major ASML. “The CS [commerce secretary) held productive talks with CEO Mr Christophe Fouquet, and discussed deepening cooperation in the semiconductor industry. This engagement underscores India’s commitment to fostering innovation and strategic partnerships in high-tech industries,” said the person quoted above. A similar response was received by the Indian negotiating team that went to Washington last week under the leadership of chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, the person said. “The meeting was positive as both have complementary strengths that can help in the growth of bilateral trade and form a robust supply chain. For example, India can be a hub for supplying APIs [active pharmaceutical ingredients] for molecules developed by the US,” he said. (ICE NEW DELHI)

Fonte notizia: Hindustan Times