Australia terms FTA negotiations with India as complicated
07/09/2016 15:18
“On India, this is a complicated negotiation. Although the original aspiration was to knock it over in 12 months, that hasn't been possible. We're now in the process of undertaking a stocktake about where negotiations are at. So I'll keep pursuing India, but that's not our key priority”, Australia’s Trade Minister Steve Ciobo was quoted as saying to a TV channel in Melbourne, the PTI reported.
Instead, the top priority for the Australian government in the short term was to ink a FTA deal with Indonesia, which is already a significant economic and regional trading partner for Australia.
Ciobo’s comments come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on the sidelines of the recently held G20 summit in China.
India and Australia have been bidding to strike a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) or FTA since 2011 as both sides look to bolster bilateral trade and investment.
Despite several rounds of negotiations aimed at liberalising trade and the services regime, eliminating non-tariff barriers and enabling investments, key differences in areas relating to duty cut on dairy products and wines have held back the conclusion of the negotiations.
