Goyal beckons BIMSTEC nations to speed up FTA

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal this week urged nations in the regional seven-nation BIMSTEC grouping to speed up negotiation for a free trade agreement (FTA).

Goyal was addressing the inaugural edition of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Business Summit, being organized jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the ministry of external affairs.

The BIMSTEC grouping comprises countries in South Asia and South East Asia – Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

“There is a need to reassess the reasons behind the delay in the BIMSTEC FTA,” Goyal said, adding that that the members “need to develop a set of cogent recommendations acceptable to all seven countries.”

Goyal called for the trade negotiating committee and the business community to consider a preferential trade pact to foster intra-regional trade and investment and enhance regional competitiveness.

He also urged the members “to introspect on the current trading relations,” while noting that trade within the grouping is small. “There’s a long way to go before we can achieve its full potential,” he said.

In FY24, India’s trade with the BIMSTEC countries reached $44.32 billion, showing a $13.47 billion trade surplus, and making up 3.98% of its overall trade. Thailand was India’s largest trading partner within the grouping.

BIMSTEC accounted for 6.61% of India’s exports and 2.28% of imports. In FY24, India’s overall trade was $1,112.48 billion, with a trade deficit of $238.32 billion.

The minister called for deeper integration among member-nations to provide honest feedback and help strengthen trade facilitation and cross-border movement of goods.

He said there should be a focus on reducing trade deficit, strengthening of trade facilitation measures to strengthen partnership in e-commerce, digital public infrastructure and better integration of custom borders with the aid of technology.

The minister also noted that there is a need for computerization of border controls, faster clearances of the import-export online application processes which will help in ease of doing business.