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Maros Sefcovic, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security of the European Commission, hailed the success of the high-level trade and investment dialogue between the European Union (EU) and India, hosted in Brussels.
Speaking at the intensive discussions, Sefcovic expressed optimism about the growing partnership, calling it a vital and forward-looking collaboration. He said, "Our high-level trading investment dialogue here in Brussels was very successful. The EU-India Partnership is an important one, not only for today, but as well as for years to come. And therefore we share the objective to take it to the next level because we have much in common, we are vibrant democracies, we are large economies and we share many global challenges." The dialogue, focused on enhancing trade and investment ties, highlighted shared ambitions and sensitivities, paving way for mutual economic gains. "We have dedicated these two days to discussing the best way forward for our trade and investment to reach a new height. It has been an open, informative and forward-looking conversation. Now we can say that we have better understanding of both our ambitions and sensitivities and no doubt, there is a lot to gain on both sides," said Sefcovic. Both sides agreed on building commercially meaningful market access for goods and services, aiming for a balanced and sustainable outcome. He stated, "We have also provided our teams with the necessary steer to keep up the pace in our talks. We have agreed to focus our efforts on building a commercially meaningful market access, packaging, industrial goods and services." "We are aiming for a win-win outcome that supports our two economies in developing reliable Clintech supply chains fit for decades to come and we will keep a close eye on this important work by remaining in regular contact," he added. Union Minister Piyush Goyal echoed the enthusiasm, describing the discussions as a foundation for a deeper understanding of each other's economies and the potential for a fair and balanced free trade agreement. Highlighting the collective strength of the EU and India, Goyal noted, "Two economies, two geographies, which collectively are about 24 trillion dollars, one-fourth of the world's economy and have two billion people, which is almost 35 per cent of the world's population." Goyal credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in setting high standards for India's economic aspirations. He stated, "I also believe that the clarion call that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given when he took office in 2014 that India will work towards zero defect and zero effect meaning India will become a cost-conscious, a quality conscious country and country which will focus on sustainability as the bedrock of our discussions going forward and on both scores, getting high quality into India and providing sustainability to make the world a better place to live in." Both leaders agreed to address legacy issues and ensure continuous consultations between senior officials to resolve challenges swiftly. The dialogue aimed to find innovative and cost-competitive ways to expand trade, particularly benefiting small and medium enterprises, farmers, and fishermen. Goyal emphasised, "I'm very confident that together we'll be able to harness a lot of new opportunities. I'm very confident that the directions given to our teams will help them come up with robust solutions for expanding trade between European Union and India in the future." (ANI)
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