New Delhi: The Union Cabinet may soon approve the proposed free trade agreement between India and Mauritius, according to sources.
After the Cabinet approval, the two countries would sign the trade agreement, which has been negotiated since 2005.
The trade agreement would be implemented after the signing of the pact by the two nations.
The pact, named as the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA), is aimed at easing regulations to boost the two-way commerce and investments.
Under an FTA, two trading partners eliminate or reduce duties on a majority of products, liberalise norms to promote services trade and promote investments.
Experts have pointed out that India’s services sectors such as IT and tourism would get a boost from the FTA even as goods sector may not get a big benefit from the small market of Mauritius.
The two-way trade between the countries was at USD 1.2 billion in 2018-19 against USD 1.1 billion in 2017-18.
India ships petroleum products, cereals, pharmaceuticals, electrical machinery, cotton, and apparel to Mauritius. Major imports from the island nation include iron and steel, precious/semi-precious stones and optical, pearls, photographic and precision instruments.
Mauritius was the second biggest source of foreign direct investment into India in 2018-19. India received USD 8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) foreign inflows from the country.