New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday suggested the seven-member countries bloc for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation or BIMSTEC to re-look and re-examine the proposed free trade agreement as the talks for the pact is progressing at a very slow pace.
The BIMSTEC’s seven members are five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). The bloc has been negotiating a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2004. “The members can think of negotiating a preferential trade agreement instead of a full-fledged free trade pact,” the minister said.
So far over 20 rounds of talks have been held. The last one was held in 2018. “I would like to raise a few fundamental issues about where we stand and what are the possibilities of making this FTA a reality,” Goyal said here at CIIs BIMSTEC Business Summit 2024. “So far 22 rounds of talks have been held for the agreement and this itself raises a question on whether "we need to pause and have a re-look at the track where we are going. The last round of negotiations took place some six years ago, which means something is holding back this FTA,” he added.
The minister said that the reasons for slow progress could be the non-trade barriers or trade barriers coming in the way of normal trade and the possible impact of other regional FTAs on the BIMSTEC region could be the cause of the delay. “It could be the trade practices or current trade relationships that could be a reason for this FTA not taking place,” the minister said.
Goyal also asked the business leaders of the seven countries to think whether they need this agreement. The minister further suggested the member nations to consider trade in local currencies to balance out trade imbalances. “I would urge business leaders also to give honest feedback of what you feel about the potential BIMSTEC FTA. Do you see merit in it, Do you see value in it,” he asked.
Feedback from the business community would help the political leaders to take a decision on this. The minister also the India Inc to take the lead and discuss the proposed pact and come out with their recommendations by next year's Summit. “Maybe, we can begin with a preferential trade agreement or PTA if not a FTA. But let's examine the realistic possibility and move forward on a fast-track basis,” he said.
