Industry Odisha Bureau, Jul 16: Claimed to be India’s first major free trade agreement with a developed economy like the United Kingdom (UK), the landmark India-UK-inked Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) reportedly came into effect formally since yesterday.
It is being reportedly expected to “help bilateral trade reach $100 billion by 2030
It has also been reported that, “The pact grants duty-free access to most Indian exports to the UK as well as open new opportunities in Services, professionals, MSMEs, government procurement and digital trade.”
As per the pact, UK has reportedly “granted duty-free access on over 99% of the value of Indian exports. Tariffs have been eliminated on products, including ‘engineering goods’, ‘textiles and apparel’, ‘leather and footwear’, ‘gems and jewellery’, ‘chemicals’, ‘plastics’, ‘marine products’, ‘processed food’ and ‘agricultural products’.”
So far the benefits that could be reapt by the services sector and professionals as per the pact, the UK has reportedly “opened market access across 137 services sub-sectors, mainly in ‘Information & Technology (IT)’, ‘financial services’, ‘professional services’, ‘education’, ‘telecommunications’, and ‘business services’.”
Besides facilitating mobility for “business visitors, investors, contractual service suppliers, intra-corporate transferees, and independent professionals”, the India-UK CETA has also reportedly operationalised the “Double Contribution Convention (DCC) that exempts eligible Indian employees on temporary assignments in the UK up to five years from paying the UK National Insurance contributions following which the DCC is expected to benefit over 75,000 Indian professionals.”
