NEW DELHI: Speaking at the Seminar on ‘Mega Regional Trade Agreements and their Impacts on the Indian Economy’ organized by FICCI in association with CUTS International and IPE Global Pvt Ltd, Ms. Sujata Mehta, Secretary (Multilaterals & ER), Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, urged Indian industry to focus on improving product standards, manufacturing and services delivery to remain competitive in the global markets as the US was fast tracking the finalization of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and it was bound to impact the Indian industry adversely.
The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 has addressed the issues on mega-regionals and their implications for India. Mega-regionals are perceived as a natural progression of major trading players’ ambitions. These deals have the potential of significantly redefining the global trade architecture. It is widely felt that India must recognize the emerging challenges from the mega agreements currently under negotiation, and start preparing right away.
With the TPP expected to come into force by the end of this year, she said that mega regional trade deals, TPP and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), would represent half of world trade, hence, they would undoubtedly impact emerging countries like India. Ms. Mehta said that there was a need for a successful response from India to the TPP agreement so as not to be shut out of the global markets. She added that India needs to focus on getting the best out of the new trade winds that are blowing across the globe and play a more proactive role in the new economic architecture that would undoubtedly emerge through these trading arrangements.
Mr. Sunil Mitra, Former Revenue Secretary – Government of India and Adviser, IPE Global Pvt Ltd, said that India needs to urgently look at how it would align with the process that would take place with the execution of TPP and must devise and be ready with its strategic plan in case of trade diversion, which was a most likely occurrence. He added that the government must also understand the requirements that would arise with TPP in force and work towards setting a regulatory policy framework to complement the new reality.
Mr. Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International, said that the mega regional trade agreement, TPP, would significantly impact India and may result in trade diversion. The consequence of this development would be that new higher standards for products and services would emerge, also giving rise to regulatory issues. He added that India needs to find a balanced strategy to respond to the potential effects of TPP by taking these challenges as opportunities to advance India’s trade standards and ensure its development objectives.
Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, said that it was time for industry to do the preparatory work in order to deal with the challenges which would emerge once these pacts were implemented and raise the standard of products and services to remain competitive in the global market. Recalling Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s campaign ‘Make in India’, he added that industry must focus on producing ‘Zero defect, Zero effect’ products to maintain its share in the global market.
