Indian minister: European trade group commits to $100 billion 15-year deal

India and a trade group of four European nations signed an economic agreement on March 10.

The agreement is aimed at increasing trade and investment, capping nearly 16 years of negotiations, according to Asharq Al- Awsat.

The deal is a binding agreement for the European Free Trade Association - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - to invest $100 billion over 15 years in the fast-growing market of 1.4 billion people, said Piyush Goyal, India's union trade minister.

"It is a modern trade agreement, fair, equitable and win-win for all five countries," Goyal told a press conference, according to Reuters.
The deal is the result of 21 rounds of negotiation, said the head of Swiss Economic Affairs, Guy Parmelin, calling India a market of immense opportunities for trade and investment.

India in the last two years has signed trade agreements with Australia and the United Arab Emirates, and officials say a deal with Britain is in the final stages, all part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of achieving $1 trillion in annual exports by 2030.

The European group, formed in 1960 as a counterweight to the European Union, is the world's 10th-largest goods trader and the fifth-largest in services. It has signed around 30 trade agreements with 40 countries and territories outside the EU.