New Delhi: Ireland supports the efforts of India and the European Union (EU) to finalize a free trade agreement (ALE) in the year, because an agreement will make trade “more without friction”, although these pacts are not simple, the Irish Minister of Higher Education and Innovation, James Lawless, said on Monday.
Lawless, who visits India with a commercial delegation in the context of Ireland’s practice to send main ministers to key capitals during Saint-Patrick, also highlighted opportunities in Ireland for Indian qualified workers such as health staff, feet professionals and STEM graduates.
Note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen have recently set their negotiators the objective of finalizing an ALE by the end of the year, Lawless declared that Ireland wanted an agreement because it will make trade “more without friction and more transparent” and will strengthen bidirectional trade, worth 16 billion euros without rubbly.
“But I’m going to be honest and say that a new FTA is not easy. I am not involved directly in this conversation, it is something that the EU commission does, but I would simply say by my own experience that it is never as simple as it seems, “he said.
“I know they set a goal at the end of the year. I wish them good luck … I would say that I would strongly support the FTA (because) we are a big fan of free trade. We believe that countries do the best when they can work with each other and negotiate each other with each other, talk to each other without obstacle, “said Lawless in the context of the threat of American president Donald Trump to hit business partners with reciprocal prices from April 2.
Lawless highlighted the scope of the enlargement of IT services with India, which is already one of the main pillars of two -way trade. In this context, he referred to geospatial technology, cloud computing, authentication of online identifiers and data management and storage. “Indian companies and engineers are paving the way in these growth services areas, as well as management of commercial processes. I think we will continue to be consumers of these services in Ireland, we will need high quality products, “he said.
Ireland already houses some 100,000 Indians and 9,000 Indian students, the largest group of foreign students, highlighted opportunities for Indian qualified workers. “STEM graduates are still in great demand in Ireland, through mathematics, science, engineering and technology, because we focus on standard technology and engineering,” he said.
“We have a constant need for health professionals – nurses, physios, occupational therapists, speech therapists – and there is already a strong tradition of Indian workers in these jobs,” he said, adding that Ireland also needs professionals for the financial services industry, new technologies such as blockchain and major data and regulatory technologies.
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