"India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) negotiations are ongoing with the 12th round of negotiations conducted from 30th October to 1st November 2023 in Colombo," it said. It added that both sides also agreed to continue discussions on matters, including apparel quotas and pharmaceutical procurement. India is negotiating free trade agreements with the European Union (EU), the UK, Sri Lanka, and Peru, according to a year-end review statement of the commerce ministry. India-European Union (EU) free trade agreement negotiations were formally re-launched on June 17 2022. "Negotiations cover 23 policy areas/chapters. Six rounds of negotiations have been held till October 2023," the ministry said. With the UK, 13 rounds of talks have been completed and the next round will take place in January 2024. TTAPAP T TO WO WAATCH TCH "India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) negotiations are ongoing with the 12th round of negotiations conducted from 30th October to 1st November 2023 in Colombo," it said. It added that both sides also agreed to continue discussions on matters, including apparel quotas and pharmaceutical procurement. With Peru, it said discussions on various chapters, including rules of origin, trade in goods, trade facilitation, sanitary, and phytosanitary measures were undertaken during this special round of talks.
Source: Economic Times
Ministers express need to increase engagement between both the countries under collaborative approach
Posted On: 20 DEC 2023 11:55AM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal held a bilateral meeting yesterday at New Delhi with the esteemed Minister for Trade of New Zealand, Hon. Todd McClay. The meeting was aimed at strengthening the trade relations between India and New Zealand and exploring opportunities for mutual growth and cooperation.
Minister Goyal and Minister McClay recognized the importance of trade facilitation and discussed measures to streamline trade processes, reduce trade barriers, and promote a more conducive environment for businesses and investors from both nations. In this context, the Trade Minister of New Zealand appreciated the efforts made by India to sort out the issue related to export of wooden logs to India. He also commended India’s Presidency of G20 and the outcomes thereof, which are significant milestones as it seeks to find practical global solutions for the benefit of all.
Both the Ministers acknowledged the longstanding friendly relations between the two countries built on the foundation of mutual trust and respect and expressed their commitment to further enhancing bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation. They highlighted the need to deepen engagement in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, pharma, connectivity, education and tourism.
Ministers acknowledged the strong step-up in engagement between businesses in the two countries, and the desirability of ensuring this provides impetus to the Government-to-Government dialogue. The importance of the annual meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC), established under the 1986 India-New Zealand Trade Agreement, and regular engagement at a senior level was also acknowledged. Ministers agreed that both sides should meet on a regular basis, as convenient, for bilateral discussions on trade and investment issues and co-operative activities.
In committing to strengthen the trade and economic relationship, Ministers expressed the need to increase engagement between both the countries under a collaborative approach that engages officials from across relevant departments and the private sector, wherever appropriate. The broad and informal engagements by creating working groups on specific areas of mutual interest are aimed at fresh ideas for new, innovative and productive approaches for economic partnership between both the countries. They emphasized that new initiatives should also focus on encouraging, facilitating and coordinating collaboration of technology and expertise for genuine mutual benefit and that the opportunities in each other’s markets, which is of interest to businesses of both the countries should be explored.
Furthermore, the Ministers exchanged views on global trade dynamics and reaffirmed their support for a rules-based, transparent, and inclusive multilateral trading system. They also briefly discussed issues related to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC) and assured each other of co-operation and mutual understanding for a positive approach to reach a decision on the long standing issue of Public Stock Holding (PSH) during MC13.
Both Ministers expressed optimism about the potential for deeper cooperation and reiterated their commitment to continuing constructive dialogue to further strengthen the bilateral relationship. The meeting concluded on a positive note, with a mutual understanding to continue working closely towards expanding the economic partnership for the benefit of both countries.
Source: PIB
Foreign Trade Policy 2023
Foreign Trade Policy 2023 (FTP 2023) was launched on 31st March 2023 in New Delhi by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal. The Key Approach to the policy is based on these 4 pillars: (i) Incentive to Remission, (ii) Export promotion through collaboration - Exporters, States, Districts, Indian Missions, (iii) Ease of doing business, reduction in transaction cost and e-initiatives and (iv) Emerging Areas – E-Commerce Developing Districts as Export Hubs and streamlining SCOMET policy. It focuses on emerging areas like dual use high end technology items under SCOMET, facilitating e-commerce export, collaborating with States and Districts for export promotion. The new FTP is introducing a one-time Amnesty Scheme for exporters to close the old pending authorizations and start afresh. The FTP 2023 encourages recognition of new towns through “Towns of Export Excellence Scheme” and exporters through “Status Holder Scheme”.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry implemented the Advance Authorisation Scheme under the FTP 2023, which allows duty-free import of inputs for export purposes. To make the norms fixation process more efficient, the DGFT has created a user-friendly and searchable database of Ad-hoc Norms fixed in the previous years. These norms can be used by any exporter without requiring a Norms Committee review as outlined in the FTP 2023.
An initiative to issue system based automatic ‘Status Holder’ certificates under FTP 2023 was launched on 9th October 2023. Now the exporter will not be required to apply to the office of DGFT for a Status Certificate and the export recognition will be provided by the IT system based on available Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) merchandise export electronic data and other risk parameters. This perspective is a paradigm shift in doing things as it not only reduces compliance burden and promotes ease of doing business but also recognizes the need and importance of collaboration within the Government. The Status Holder certification program provides credibility to the Indian exporters in the international markets. In addition, it provides certain other privileges including simplified procedures under FTP 2023 and priority custom clearances on self-declaration basis, exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks, exemption from filing Bank Guarantee for FTP schemes etc.
G20
The G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting (TIMM) was held in Jaipur on 24th and 25th August, 2023. The meeting was led by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry. Under India’s Presidency, the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial reached a ground-breaking consensus on five concrete and action-oriented deliverables which have been adopted in the Outcome Document. The first one being adoption of High-Level Principles on digitalization of trade documents wherein the G20 Ministers have enunciated 10 broad principles that comprehensively cover various dimensions of an effective transition to paperless trade. These principles will provide guidance to the countries in implementing measures related to the cross-border exchange of electronic trade-related data and documents, emphasizing the need for a secure interoperable and transparent paperless cross-border trade environment. G20 Ministers also issued a Jaipur Call for Action for enhancing access to information for MSMEs. The Ministers called upon the International Trade Center (ITC), Geneva to work on a detailed implementation plan, in consultation with UNCTAD and WTO, for upgradation of ITC’s Global Trade Helpdesk which would address the informational gaps faced by MSMEs. The Ministers also endorsed a G20 Generic Mapping Framework for Global Value Chains (GVCs) which contained key building blocks of data, analysis, and representation of GVC data. The framework also advocated to identify key dimensions to help evaluate the resilience of GVCs both at the sectoral and product levels. Moreover, guiding principles for collaboration to address the need for keeping critical GVCs resilient and robust were also enunciated in the framework.
G20 Ministers welcomed the voluntary sharing of best practices on Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) for professional services and supported the development of a Presidency’s Compendium of best practices on MRAs for Professional Services. G20 Ministers acknowledged the importance of mutual dialogues to reduce regulatory divergences and associated trade costs and also to prevent unnecessary trade frictions, monitor trade and investment-related measures and solve existing irritants. G20 Ministers welcomed the Presidency’s suggestion to hold a G20 Standards Dialogue in 2023 that will bring together members, policymakers, regulators, standard-setting bodies and other stakeholders to discuss topics of common interest such as good regulatory practices and standards.
Bharat Mandapam
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to nation the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) complex at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on 26th July 2023 and urged the nation to move ahead with the principle of ‘Think Big, Dream Big, Act Big’. The complex has been named, ‘Bharat Mandapam’. Prime Minister also unveiled the G-20 coin and G-20 stamp at the grand opening ceremony and participated in the naming ceremony of the Convention Centre. Developed as a national project at a cost of about Rs 2700 crores, the new Convention Complex will help showcase and promote India as a global business destination.
Bilateral Cooperation
India-USA
India and the United States held the 13th Ministerial-level meeting of India – United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in Washington, DC, on 11th January 2023. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador co-chaired the meeting. The Ministers launched a new working group on “Resilient Trade” to deepen bilateral dialogue on a range of issues that can enhance the resiliency and sustainability of the trade relationship by strengthening resilience in global supply chains, especially in the critical sectors.
Several rounds of meetings were held this year to resolve all the seven ongoing disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) between India and USA. Six disputes were resolved during the visit of the Prime Minister to USA in June 2023 and last one was resolved in September 2023 during visit of the President of the United States for G20 Summit.
The India-US Commercial Dialogue meeting held on 10th March 2023 in New Delhi was co-chaired by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and US Secretary of Commerce. One of the major outcomes was signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing semiconductor supply chain and innovation partnership facilitating a collaborative mechanism between the two governments on Semiconductor Supply chain resiliency and diversification in view of US’s CHIPS and Science Act and India’s Semiconductor Mission. An MoU on “Enhancing Innovation Ecosystems through an Innovation Handshake” was signed between the two countries on the 14th of November 2023 in San Francisco to further strengthen start-up ecosystems of both countries. The leaders’ Joint Statement during the historic official State Visit of Prime Minister in June 2023 announced the establishment of the “Innovation Handshake”.
India-UAE
India and UAE successfully held the 1st Meeting of the Joint Committee (JC) of the India-UAE CEPA from 11th -12th June 2023 in New Delhi. During the JC, both sides, inter-alia, reviewed the bilateral trade under the CEPA, agreed to operationalize the established committees/sub-committees/technical council under the CEPA, agreed on mutual exchange of preferential trade data on quarterly basis for effective monitoring of the CEPA, discussed various matters related to the implementation of the Agreement and agreed on addressing any issue that may potentially act as a hindrance to CEPA implementation or its usage by businesses on both sides, agreed on creation of a new sub-committee on Trade in Services, and also agreed to set-up a UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC) as a B2B collaboration mechanism, with a focus on MSMEs and start-ups, for building greater economic linkages and optimizing CEPA benefits.
The 11th meeting of the UAE-India High Level Joint Task Force on Investments (‘the Joint Task Force’) was held on 5th October in Abu Dhabi, co-chaired by His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry. The Joint Task Force was established in 2013 to promote trade, investment and economic ties between India and the UAE. The Joint Task Force has provided an effective mechanism for discussion on opportunities & prospects for investments in both countries as well as resolution of issues faced by investors of the two countries.
India-Africa
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry interacted with 15 ambassadors from key African nations namely Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Republic of Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe on 8th June 2023 in New Delhi. It provided a unique platform for diplomatic representatives to engage in fruitful discussions, strengthen bilateral ties, and forge new partnerships for mutual growth and development. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry addressed the 18th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on 'India-Africa Growth Partnership' on 15th June 2023 in New Delhi.
Other Significant Events
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry participated in the third in-person IPEF Ministerial meeting on 14th November, 2023 in San Francisco, California. During this Ministerial meeting, the first-of-its-kind IPEF Supply Chain Resilience Agreement was signed by the Minister along with the Ministers from other IPEF partner countries. The Agreement is expected to make IPEF supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated, and contribute towards economic development and progress of the region as a whole.
20th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers’ meeting
The 20th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers’ meeting was held on 21st August 2023 in Semarang, Indonesia. The Economic Ministers or their representatives from all the 10 ASEAN countries viz. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the meeting. The main agenda of this year’s meeting was the timely review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) which was signed in 2009.
Ongoing Free Trade Agreement negotiations
India-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations were formally re-launched on 17th June 2022 as follow up of India-EU Leaders announcement in Porto on 8th May 2021. Negotiations cover 23 policy areas / chapters. Six Rounds of negotiations have been held till October 2023.
India-UK FTA negotiations were launched on 13th January 2022. The Thirteenth round of negotiations for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took place from 18th September to 15th December, 2023. The UK and India will continue to negotiate towards a comprehensive and ambitious Free Trade Agreement. The Fourteenth round of negotiations will take place in January 2024.
India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) builds on the foundation laid by the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force from 29th December 2022. The CECA envisage a deeper and comprehensive agreement, covering: (i) 5 Tracks agreed as per Article 14.5 of Chapter 14 of the India-Australia ECTA namely Goods, Services, Digital Trade, Government Procurement, Rules of Origin-PSRs- Under formal negotiations; (ii) New areas in which either party has shown interest for inclusion in CECA like Competition Policy, MSME, Gender, innovation, Agri-Tech, Critical Minerals, Sports-Under exploratory discussions; and (iii) Negotiation on CECA started in February 2023. 7th round of CECA negotiations was held in hybrid mode from 4th – 20th October 2023 where significant progress has been made in Rules of Origin (ROO) track with agreement on 4699 lines (84%) so far. In exploratory discussions, convergence has been achieved in MSME, Competition, Sports, Innovation, Traditional Knowledge, Labor, Gender Tracks. Intersessional meetings conducted on Digital Trade, Government Procurement, ROO, Legal & Institutional and Environment track in November, 2023.
India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) negotiations are ongoing with the 12th round of negotiations conducted from 30th October to 1st November 2023 in Colombo. Both sides delved into a spectrum of critical areas, including Trade in Goods, Technical Barriers to Trade and Trade in Services. Both sides also agreed to continue discussions on matters including apparel quotas and pharmaceutical procurement.
A Special Round of negotiations for the India - Peru Trade Agreement was held virtually on 10th -11th October, 2023. Discussions on various chapters including Initial Provisions and General Definitions, Rules of Origin, Trade in Goods, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, General and Security Exceptions, Cooperation and Legal and Institutional Issues/Dispute Settlement were undertaken during this special round. Special round for the Chapters on Services and Movement of Natural Persons was held on 21st November 2023. Intersessional meetings were parallelly held in various tracks such as NTMA for Goods, SPS & TBT and Cooperation separately.
Policies regarding import/export
DGFT notified the amended rules for calculation of Composition Fee for extending Export Obligation under Advance Authorization Scheme by amending Para 4.42 of Handbook of Procedures (2015-20) vide Public Notice No.52/2015-20 dated 18th January 2023. The simplification of calculations for Composition Fee helps in automation and faster service delivery by making the process more efficient and easier to understand.
DGFT has simplified and liberalized the policy for export of Drones/UAVs meant for civilian end uses from India vide DGFT Notification No. 14 dated 23rd June 2023. All kind/type of drones/UAVs were earlier controlled/restricted for export under the category 5B of the SCOMET (Special Chemicals Organisms Material Equipments and Technology) list under Appendix 3 of Schedule 2 of the ITCHS classification of Import and Export Items which list deals with the category of items that are subject to specific regulations due to their potential dual-use nature—meaning they can have both civilian and military applications. SCOMET license was required for export of such items and the industry was facing challenges to export drones with limited capability which are only meant for civilian use.
The Scheme for Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) support which was notified till 30th September 2023 has now been extended till 30th June 2024 at the same rates to the existing export items. The Scheme is WTO compatible and is being implemented in an end-to-end IT environment. The Scheme provides a mechanism for reimbursement of taxes, duties and levies, which are currently not being refunded under any other mechanism, at the central, state and local level, but which are incurred by the export entities in the process of manufacture and distribution of exported products. Under the Scheme, a support of Rs. 27,018 crores have been extended for the 27-month period till 31st March 2023.
Government e-Marketplace
A function was held by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in partnership with Self-Employed Women’s Association, Bharat (SEWA Bharat) to commemorate the success of “Womaniya on Government eMarketplace (GeM)” on 14th January 2023 in New Delhi. Launched in 2019, the “Womaniya” initiative has sought to encourage the participation of women entrepreneurs and self-help groups (SHG) from the informal sector on the GeM portal and facilitate the sale of their products directly to various Government buyers, sans intermediaries.
GeM organized the ‘क्रेता-विक्रेता गौरव सम्मान समारोह 2023’ on 26th June 2023 to recognize the outstanding performance of government buyers and sellers in the public procurement process through GeM. GeM organized Buyer-Seller Workshops in all the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh from 12th June 2023 till 31st August 2023 to enhance the understanding of GeM's functionalities among buyers and sellers in the State, as well as provide a platform to address any queries or concerns they may have.
Export Performance
Despite global headwinds both merchandise and services exports robust performance. India’s overall export (Merchandise plus Services) stood at USD 499.46 billion during April-November 2023 as compared to USD 506.52 billion during April-November 2022.
Source: PIB
India has huge opportunity to tap into the international textile and apparel market, said the newly-elected president of International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) K.V. Srinivasan.
Mr. Srinivasan, who is the first south Indian to head the international association, told presspersons here on Tuesday international buyers wanted to source more from countries other than China. This offered opportunities for Indian suppliers. However, the drop in demand globally and high inflation had hit the industry globally. Apart from this, in India, the demand was “surprisingly low for textiles” even during the festival season
Source : The Hindu
Synopsis Indian economy is likely to log 6.3% growth in FY24 and FY25 on the back of macroeconomic and financial stability, International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board said Tuesday. The multilateral body expects investment to rise to 31.9% of GDP by FY25 and savings to rise to 30%. Indian economy is likely to log 6.3% growth in FY24 and FY25 on the back of macroeconomic and financial stability, International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board said Tuesday. “India’s economy showed robust growth over the past year. Headline inflation has, on average, moderated although it remains volatile. Employment has surpassed the pre-pandemic level and, while the informal sector continues to dominate, formalisation has progressed,” the Article IV consultation conducted by its Executive Board
Source: Economic Times
PLI schemes are a crucial part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a $5-trillion economy by strengthening the nation’s manufacturing sector by incentivising domestic and foreign investments.companies to increase their manufacturing capabilities by spending on plant, machinery, associated utilities, R&D and transfer of technology. | Image: Reuters
New Delhi, December 19: The Empowered Group of Secretaries has asked the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade to amend guidelines in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for some sectors – Automobile/Auto Components (AUTO), Advance Chemistry Cells (ACC) and Textiles among them – to bring them up to speed.
Source : Zee Business
Textile Exchange has announced the launch of Electronic Trackit, or eTrackit, for its first commercial application, covering the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and the Recycled Content Standard (RCS). eTrackit is part of the organization’s two-tier traceability offering for materials certified to its standards, working alongside dTrackit (Digital Trackit). It is the first system of its kind, enhancing the integrity of supply chain traceability by tracking the volume of materials certified to Textile Exchange standards at the product level. eTrackit works by electronically tracking certified materials for each key product transformation, as well as every time products are transacted between a seller and a buyer. Business rules are built into the system, and inventories are transacted in real-time to reduce operational processing and data turnaround time. The platform enables the peer-to-peer validation of transactions and leverages third-party certification bodies in the verification process.
The Trackit systems aim to increase efficiency throughout the supply chain while also providing brands with the verified data they need to make confident product claims. This is part of Textile Exchange’s work to accelerate the adoption of preferred materials with beneficial outcomes by further strengthening integrity in its standards. eTrackit’s initial release application is powered by the traceability platform TextileGenesis™. However, Textile Exchange will continue to develop pathways under the Trackit umbrella as the system evolves, collaborating with further solution providers and stakeholders who are working with other traceability solutions once its data evolves. Work is also underway to expand Trackit to include a wider selection of standards. Currently, the Responsible Animal Fiber Standards (RAF) and the Organic Content Standard (OCS) are in the pilot phase, with commercial application planned for 2024. “At Textile Exchange, we are committed to providing the industry with the tools it needs to achieve its climate and nature goals. We’re excited to offer brands a digital alternative for tracking certified materials across the value chain; one that enhances efficiency and integrity. eTrackit builds on our foundation of accountability and serves as a roadmap to impact, connecting responsible sourcing to tangible positive change.” – Evonne Tan, Senior Director of Data and Technology at Textile Exchange Eligible, certified brands can now register for eTrackit and begin the process of supply chain mapping. H&M Group, Inditex, and Varner are among the brands supporting this new solution. Once registered, certified organizations can apply for eTransactions, which the system will authenticate against the permissible scope, as well as their available inventory, and their adherence to content and standard requirements. Validated eTransactions are then passed on to certification bodies for verification and approval. eTransactions will be generated from January 2024.
Source: Tecoya Trend
The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have inked a significant agreement for a $250 million policy-based loan. This financial boost is set to further propel the development of industrial corridors, enhancing the competitiveness of manufacturing, strengthening national supply chains, and creating substantial employment opportunities. Following the successful deployment of the first $250 million loan approved in October 2021, this additional funding under Subprogramme 2 will bolster the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP). The NICDP, launched in 2016 and updated in 2020, focuses on improving the planning and management of industrial economic clusters to attract private infrastructure and manufacturing investments, the ministry of finance said in a press release. Juhi Mukherjee, joint secretary, department of economic affairs, ministry of finance, represented the government of India in signing the agreement, while Hoe Yun Jeong, deputy country director and officer-in-charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed on behalf of ADB. A key facet of the second subprogramme is the development of alternative financing solutions for industrial clusters, including green finance. This initiative aims to enhance industrial workplace safety, integrate environment and climate change practices, and contribute significantly to alleviating poverty in the corridor states. The programme is poised to create jobs in various sectors, including textiles.
The government of India and ADB also signed an agreement for a 37 billion Japanese Yen ($250 million) loan that will continue financing the construction of the 82-kilometre Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor. This project will provide fast, safe, and high-capacity commuter transit services, expanding economic and employment opportunities in the region by cutting travel time from 3-4 hours to about 1 hour.
Source: Fibre2fashion
To make our river system sustainable and economical mode of transport in the country, 111 waterways (including 5 existing NWs and 106 new) spread over 24 States have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) vide National Waterways Act, 2016 w.e.f. 12.04.2016. Feasibility Studies (FSs) of new NWs have been completed and subsequent Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) also completed on selected NWs on the basis of FSs. Action plan has been formulated for development of 26 viable NWs based upon the outcome of study reports and development taken up in 20 NWs.
There is negligible containerized cargo movement on inland vessels in India. However, IWAI is encouraging the private sector to invest in container vessels through various stakeholders conferences. Further, terminals and waterways are developed with a view to handle both bulk and containerized cargo.
Annexure-1
|
S. |
Agency |
MoU Name |
2nd party |
Potential Thematic Area |
|
|
no. |
(1st Party) |
|
|||
|
1 |
IWAI |
Facilitating inland vessel operation |
M/S Tata Steel Ltd |
Operation of barges and O&M of Jetties |
|
|
2 |
IWAI |
Facilitating cargo movement |
M/s. Brahmaputra Crackers & Polymer Ltd. |
cargo movement |
|
|
3 |
IWAI |
Facilitating ODC and product movement |
M/s. Numaligarh Refinery |
cargo movement |
|
|
4 |
IWAI |
Operation & Management of Terminal at Maia for transportation on IBP Route 5&6 |
M/s. Rajesh Auto Merchandize Pvt.Ltd., Jimex International & Cambridge Construction |
O&M of Terminal at Maia |
|
|
5 |
IWAI |
Movement of Gypsum |
Ultra Tech. Cement Ltd. |
cargo movement |
|
Details of MoUs with a number of private cargo owners/ shipper/ e commerce companies for increasing cargo movement through river systems as detailed at
|
6 |
IWAI |
For facilitating the movement of Cargo on National Waterways |
A to Z EXIM |
Additional cargo movement on NWs till 2030 |
|
|
7 |
IWAI |
For facilitating the movement of Cargo on National Waterways |
Star Cement |
Additional cargo movement on NW-2 & IBP route |
|
|
8 |
IWAI |
For facilitating the movement of Cargo on National Waterways |
Yogayatan Ports Pvt. Ltd. |
Cargo Movement |
|
|
9 |
A to Z EXIM |
To explore the possibility of transportation of cargo from NW-2 to various destination of NER, Bangladesh and other countries |
IBCCI |
Exim cargo |
|
This information was given by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.
Source : PIB
European stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday and global shares were near their highest since April 2022 as traders bet on rate cuts next year, while the yen fell after the Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-easy monetary policy. In a widely expected move, the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates unchanged. It also made no change to its dovish policy guidance, dashing hopes among some traders it would tweak the language to signal a near-term end to negative interest rates. The yen tumbled, with dollar-yen up 1.2% at 144.5 at 0924 GMT and euro-yen up 1.3% at 158.17. The Nikkei rose in relief, led by technology shares, and Japanese government bonds yields fell.
The supportive sentiment helped boost global markets more broadly, with the MSCI World Equity index up 0.1% on the day. Europe's STOXX 600 was up 0.2% and London's FTSE 100 was up 0.1%. The Bank of Japan's "dovish stance... is something that is supportive of sentiment and we've been seeing that playing out in equities which are just moving modestly higher," said Fiona Cincotta, senior markets analyst at City Index.
Cincotta said that lower liquidity may also be a factor in market moves, as traders take leave ahead of the Christmas holiday. Meanwhile, traders were weighing up various hints about the trajectory for rates in the U.S. and euro zone.
European Central Bank member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that interest rates should be lowered some time in 2024 and that inflation should be back down to the ECB's 2% target by 2025 at the latest.
"This is not just a forecast, this is a commitment," he said.
At the central bank's meeting last week, ECB President Christina Lagarde pushed back against market bets on imminent rate cuts, but markets were not convinced. Dovish ECB policymaker Yannis Stournaras also told Reuters on Monday that the ECB must see "Although the ECB pushed back on rate cuts, given that inflation is close to that 2% level, given that we're seeing weakness in data, I don't think the market necessarily finds it that credible that they're going to be keeping rates elevated for much longer," Cincotta said. Euro zone government bond yields were down, with the benchmark German 10-year yield lower 5 basis points at 2.025%. The euro was up 0.2% at $1.0942. The U.S. dollar index was flat at 102.5, after dropping 1.3% last week. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at 3.9107%. Treasury yields dropped last week after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell was seen as unexpectedly dovish at the end of the Fed's meeting. Yields then reversed course on Monday, rising after Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee pushed back against market pricing of interest rate cuts. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester told the Financial Times on Monday that markets had got "a little bit ahead" of the central bank on when to expect interest rate cuts. Oil lost some recent gains. Oil prices had benefited from the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi militant group attacking ships in the Red Sea. Brent crude futures were down 0.3% at $77.71 while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.9% at $71.85.
Source: Business Standard
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has called on the G20 to show leadership and contribute to economic stability and growth by unwinding recent and longstanding restrictions on trade. G20 members include India, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK, and the US, among others. Trade measures introduced by G20 member countries have become more restrictive in recent months, according to a report from the World Trade Organisation (WTO). According to the 30th WTO Trade Monitoring Report on G20 trade measures, between mid-May and mid-October 2023, the countries have introduced more trade-restrictive than trade-facilitating measures on goods. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has called on the G20 to show leadership and contribute to economic stability and growth by unwinding recent and longstanding restrictions on trade. G20 members include India, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK, and the US, among others. "Trade measures introduced by G20 economies have become more restrictive in recent months," the WTO said.
Source: Economic Times
Synopsis The panel in April had ruled that import duties imposed by India on certain ICT products violate global trading norms. Appellate body is the final authority to decide on trade disputes in WTO. However, it is not functioning as the US has been blocking appointments of judges in the body. The European Union (EU) has expressed disappointment over India's move to approach the WTO's appellate body in a case related to customs duties on certain information and communications technology (ICT) products, an official said. On December 8, India appealed against a ruling of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) trade dispute settlement panel, in a case filed by the European Union against New Delhi's import duties on certain ICT products including mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments. India has stated that it is the right of countries to appeal, and called for early restoration of the non-functional appellate body of WTO so that the panel's errors can be corrected and the dispute can be resolved expeditiously. New Delhi has also rejected the EU's request to settle the dispute through arbitration. On this request, India has said that such interim arbitration agreements undermine the right of countries to appeal to a permanent standing body, which is fundamental to the multilateral trading system.
The panel in April had ruled that import duties imposed by India on certain ICT products violate global trading norms. Appellate body is the final authority to decide on trade disputes in WTO. However, it is not functioning as the US has been blocking appointments of judges in the body. Bilateral consultation is the first step to resolve a dispute. If both sides are not able to resolve the matter through consultation, either of them can approach for the establishment of a dispute settlement panel. The panel's ruling or report can be challenged at WTO's appellate body. The issue came up during the meeting of the dispute settlement body (DSB) on December 18 in Geneva, the headquarter of WTO. In the meeting, the EU said the panel has ruled in its favour and has also found that India's tariffs on these products are in excess of its WTO commitments. It claimed that EU companies have been negatively impacted by India's excessive import duties on ICT products since 2014, a time of enormous developments in the sector, including the rollout of 4G and 5G networks in India. The EU has said that "while it recognizes India's right to appeal, it deeply regrets that India did not avail itself of the opportunities which the EU repeatedly offered to have this matter adjudicated upon through appeal arbitration," according to the Geneva-based official. "India said that with respect to the EU request for arbitration, India's long-standing position on the appellate body crisis and the implications of interim arbitration arrangements is that such interim agreements undermine the right of countries to appeal to a permanent standing body, which is fundamental to the multilateral trading system," the official added. In the meeting, Japan also expressed its disappointment at India's decision to appeal the panel report. In May, India filed another appeal in a similar dispute case initiated by Japan regarding the tariff treatment that India accords to certain goods in the ICT sector. In its appeal, India sought review by the appellate body of the "errors of law and legal interpretation" by the panel in its report and findings. The EU on April 2, 2019 had challenged the introduction of import duties by India on a wide range of ICT products, including mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments. The EU had claimed that the measures appear to be inconsistent with certain provisions of WTO Further, India and Chinese Taipei are engaged in talks to resolve the issue outside the ambit of WTO. On this, the official said India and Chinese Taipei have requested for additional time from the DSB to consider adoption of the panel ruling. They suggested that the DSB further delay consideration of the panel reports until April 26, 2024 in order to help facilitate resolution of the disputes. The DSB had agreed to two previous requests from Chinese Taipei to delay consideration until September 19 and December 18, 2023. Under WTO rules, panel reports must normally be considered for adoption by the DSB within 60 days of the report's circulation, unless a party to the dispute notifies its intention to appeal. The panel report was circulated to WTO members on April 17. "The DSB agreed to the requests from Chinese Taipei and India," the official said.
Source: Economic Times
