Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday, 11 June said India's strategy of signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with developed economies is deliberately designed to advance the country's long-term growth ambitions — expanding global engagement, attracting investments, fostering innovation, raising quality standards and generating employment at scale. He was addressing the closing session of the 5th Annual Meeting of India Global Innovation Connect in New Delhi.

The Strategic Logic Behind India's FTA Push

Goyal underscored the complementary strengths that make these partnerships mutually beneficial. Countries across Europe, North America, the Gulf region, Australia and New Zealand bring higher per capita incomes, advanced technologies and substantial capital resources to the table. India, in turn, offers a young and cost-competitive workforce alongside a rapidly expanding domestic market — a combination few other economies can replicate at this scale.

The minister noted that India has signed nine FTAs over the last three to three-and-a-half years, collectively covering 38 countries. These agreements, he said, are unlocking access to new markets, encouraging collaboration in emerging technologies and enabling deeper integration into global value chains while simultaneously generating investment and employment opportunities.

The EFTA Pact: A Template for Investment-Linked Trade

Goyal highlighted India's Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) as a landmark example of this approach. The pact covers Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, and has established a framework for trade, investment and innovation-led cooperation between the two sides.

Under the agreement, EFTA countries have committed to invest $100 billion in India over 15 years and support the creation of one million direct jobs. Goyal noted that India is currently in the second year of implementing the agreement, with discussions on investments under the framework actively progressing.

He described the investment commitment as a critical structural element of the pact — one that creates a balanced arrangement benefiting both India and its partner economies. Notably, this marks a departure from traditional FTAs that focus primarily on tariff liberalisation, embedding job-creation and capital-flow targets directly into the trade architecture.

Deeper Integration Into Global Value Chains

The minister's remarks come as India seeks to position itself as a credible alternative manufacturing and services hub amid global supply chain realignments. The FTA strategy, as articulated at the Innovation Connect, is not merely about market access — it is framed as a vehicle for technology transfer, quality upgradation and sectoral competitiveness.

This is the fifth edition of the India Global Innovation Connect, reflecting sustained institutional momentum behind India's outreach to innovation-driven economies. The forum has increasingly become a platform for translating bilateral trade frameworks into concrete investment and technology pipelines.

What Comes Next

With negotiations on FTAs with the United Kingdom and the European Union at advanced stages, Goyal's remarks signal that the government views this as an ongoing, accelerating programme rather than a completed agenda. The focus going forward, according to the minister, will be on converting signed agreements into tangible outcomes — particularly on the investment and employment fronts.