'...speed of Brett Lee and perfection of Sachin Tendulkar': Piyush Goyal hails deal between India and Australia with cricket analogy - Watch

New Delhi: India and Australia has signed an agreement called Ind-Aus ECTA that will allow India to get preferential duty market access in Austrai for its labour-intesive products such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food and agriculture products, engineering products, medical devices, automobiles, and specified pharma products.

Hailing the speed of negotiation of an agreement between India and Australia, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said Ind-Aus ECTA is an agreement negotiated with the speed of Brett Lee and the perfection of Sachin Tendulkar.

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President of FIEO (the Federation of Indian Export Organisations) A Sakthivel thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal for cementing the trade agreement in a record time. "The agreement, which the Australian Parliament ratified on November 15, 2022, is a milestone in India-Australia`s relationship," said Sakthivel.

To New Innings#IndAusECTA is an agreement negotiated with the speed of Brett Lee and the perfection of Sachin Tendulkar. pic.twitter.com/zLtYLuoVc8 — Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 29, 2022

FIEO President said that it is remarkable that in a very short span of time India has carved out two important partnership agreements with UAE and Australia, which are complementary economies and important export markets. He added that India`s goods exports to Australia will reach USD 15 billion by 2025 from USD 6.9 billion in 2021 and services trade should move to USD 10 billion by 2025 from USD 3.9 billion.

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The India-Australia Economic and Cooperation Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) provides an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. It covers almost all the tariff lines dealt with by India and Australia.

Further, India has offered market access to Australia in around 103 sub-sectors and Most Favoured Nation status in 31 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors such as business services, communication services, construction, and related engineering services. Also, both countries agreed to a separate Annex on Pharmaceutical products under this agreement, which will enable fast-track approval for patented, generic, and biosimilar medicines. Through this trade agreement, it is estimated that an additional 10 lakh jobs would be created in India.