India’s free trade talks with the UK set to resume

Negotiating teams from India and the UK are expected to imminently open the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement, with the aim of ironing out differences on issues such as the import and export of cars, medical equipment plus the movement of workers.

An India government official told the Business Standard website that “virtual sessions are progressing… we are planning for a full-fledged round of talks. In the full round, both sides discuss all the chapters.” He said some 60-70 negotiating sessions will happen in parallel.

There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights.

The official said that issues that needed to be resolved include rules of origin; intellectual property rights (IPRs); social security agreements; duty concessions; and the liberalisation of norms in services sectors including banking and insurance.

Talks are also progressing on the proposed bilateral investment treaty (BIT), which is being negotiated as a separate agreement between India and the UK.

These investment treaties help in promoting and protecting investments in each other’s country. The main point of contention involved in this area is the mechanism for the settlement of disputes.

BITs help in promoting and protecting investments in each country. In talks with the UK, India has proposed to first utilise all local judicial remedies for settlement of disputes before initiating an international arbitration.

India and the UK launched the talks for free-trade agreement (FTA) in January 2022, with an aim to conclude talks by October 2022, but the deadline was missed due to political developments in the UK.

India is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare to the UK market.

On the other hand, the UK is looking for significant cuts in import duties on goods such as scotch whiskey, automobiles, lamb meat and chocolates and other confectionary items. It is also looking for more opportunities for UK services in Indian markets in segments like telecommunications, legal and financial services (banking and insurance).

The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to $20.36 billion in 2022-23 from $17.5 billion in 2021-22.

 

Confederation of Indian Industry launches Centre for Women Leadership

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has joined forces with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to set up a national Centre for Women Leadership.

At the launch of the centre, Smriti Irani, the Minister of Women and Child Development of India, said that industry leadership needs to support legislative efforts, urging companies to offer opportunities that incentivise women to leave their homes and take up employment away from their hometowns.

For its part, the government is opening 5,000 creches in city centres imminently, she added.

India’s female population numbers around 663 million women, with about 450 million falling within the working age group of 15 to 64 years. With better education, the aspirations of women have grown and, according to a CII Survey of 700 working women, more than 40% of the respondents aspired to rise to the top of their companies.

The CII said the Centre for Women Leadership creates multi-stakeholder platform that aims to inspire leadership in thought and action to drive transformation and break barriers to the entry, retention, and growth of women as leaders in the economy.

It said it will “co-create ecosystems to enable women to achieve their full economic potential” with the following as focus areas of work:

• Knowledge creation through research to inform policy and industry.
• Capacity building/training to upskill women and conduct gender audits for organisations/private sector.
• Promoting best practices through gender parity awards.
• Building alliances to promote inclusion of women in the economy.

This Centre for Women Leadership is a step forward in CII’s efforts to engage with industry on women empowerment.

CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said “the centre would propel CII efforts towards women empowerment by serving as a permanent and committed secretariat striving towards driving entry, retention, and growth of women as leaders within the economy”.