India, Spain expecting major progress in India-EU FTA negotiations during upcoming Spanish presidency of EU

On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal and Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade Xiana Mendez co-chaired the 12th Session of the India-Spain Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC) in New Delhi.

This was the golden jubilee edition of the India-Spain Joint Commission mechanism which was established in 1972.

Over the past 50 years, a remarkable enhancement of bilateral trade and investment has taken place, both countries observed during the session.

During the session, Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade Xiana Mendez emphasised the importance of the India-Spain relationship and the Spanish partnership in India’s development stories.

With an investment of USD 3.7 Bn, 250 Spanish Companies are active in India and 40 Indian Companies are present in Spain working in different sectors such as IT, Pharma, Renewable Energy, Automobiles, Infrastructure, etc, the statement said.

The Spanish side reaffirmed the further cooperation in the various sectors including in the field of Civil Aviation such as Automation, Surveillance and NavAids, High-Speed Railways, Railway networking, Signalling, Traffic management etc., the statement added.

India and Spain also agreed to further cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy, Shipping, Ports, Tourism, Infrastructure, Food Processing, Pharmaceuticals, Technology, Innovation, and Defence sector.

The status of various MOUs was also reviewed including those of important interest for bilateral relations such as MOUs on Migration and Mobility, Agreement on Social Security, Cyber Security, etc.

Both sides also discussed various Market Access Issues faced by their exporters and agreed to resolve the same through bilateral discussions.

The Spanish side congratulated India on the excellent progress of the Indian presidency of the G20 so far and offered its support and cooperation for the success of G-20 TIWG.