New Delhi. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for an overall economic cooperation agreement between India and Mauritius. It is a free trade agreement of its kind. Its goal is to liberalize rules for two-way business. An official statement issued by the government said that the signing of the Composite Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius was approved by the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this agreement, 310 items including beverages will be exported from India, like food and beverage. These include agricultural products, textiles, metals, electricals and electronic products, plastics and commodities like wood and wood.
At the same time, Mauritius will get preferential access to 615 products in Indian markets. These include frozen fish, specialty sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, beer, alcoholic beverages, soaps, bags, medical equipment and clothing.
Under such an agreement, two trading partner countries abolish or reduce import duties on certain products. Along with this, rules are also liberalized to promote business.
The two countries will set a date for signing this agreement according to mutual convenience. It will then be implemented. This is India’s first trade agreement with any African country.
This agreement is very important in the background that bilateral trade between the two countries decreased to $ 690 million in 2019-20. Earlier this figure stood at $ 1.2 billion in 2018-19. In the financial year 2019-20, goods worth $ 66.2 million were exported to Mauritius by India. At the same time, Barat imported $ 27.89 million in the same period.
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