“Today Is A Day For History Books”: Norway’s Trade Minister On Signing Of Free Trade Pact With EFTA

New Delhi [India] : Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Jan Christian Vestre said “today is a day for the history books” after India signed the Trade and Economic Participation Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) on Sunday.

Calling the signing of the agreement “tremendous,” he said, “Today is a day for the history books because what we have created today is tremendous.”

Vestre added that this is a new way of doing sustainable and fair business.

“This is a new way of doing sustainable, fair business, increasing our investments…making sure that we can reach our common goals, combating climate change, eradicating poverty, and bringing prosperity to all our nations,” he added.

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal co-chaired the meeting on the India-EFTA trade agreement in the national capital on Sunday.

Norwegian Ambassador to India, May-Elin Stener, took to social media X and quoted Norwegian Trade minister’s words, “Today is a day for the history books, says @NFdep Minister @jcvestre
as the historic India EFTA trade & economic partnership agreement is signed with @PiyushGoyal @Bjarni_Ben @DominiqueHasler @ParmelinG.”

Earlier, Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin emphasized that India will attract more foreign investment from the EFTA, which will lead to an increase in good jobs.

At the signing ceremony, Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, speaking on behalf of the EFTA Member States, emphasised, “EFTA countries gain market access to a major growth market.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated the negotiators and signatories on the signing of the Trade and Economic Participation Agreement (TEPA) between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), saying that despite structural diversities in many aspects, “our economies possess complementarities that promise to be a win-win situation for all nations.”

PM Modi, in a letter, said March 10, 2024, marks a new turn and a watershed moment in the bilateral relationship between India and the EFTA countries of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.