Muscat:
India and Oman will review the progress of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries during Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Muscat this week. This information was given in an official statement on Sunday. Although negotiations for the proposed agreement have been completed, Oman has sought amendments to its market access proposal on certain products.

India and Oman held the fifth round of talks on January 14 for the agreement, which aims to boost bilateral economic relations. Negotiations for this agreement, officially called the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), formally began in November 2023.

In such agreements, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investment.

The Commerce Ministry said, “Negotiations on India-Oman CEPA, which are in the final stages, are expected to further intensify during this visit. “Both sides continue to negotiate and explore a commercially significant, balanced, equitable, ambitious and mutually beneficial CEPA.”

Goyal will also participate in the Joint Commission meeting with Qais bin Mohammed bin Musa Al-Yusuf, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion of Oman on January 27-28. A business delegation is also accompanying the minister for the Joint Business Council meeting.

On the occasion, Goyal is also expected to meet Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, Minister of Finance and Chairperson of the Ministerial Committee for CEPA, and Sheikh Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ).

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by the NewsDeskReport team and is published directly from a syndicated feed.)