New Delhi Nov 28 PTI Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday suggested five focus areas including trade connectivity health and tourism for further enhancing economic ties between India and Bangladesh He also said that Bangladesh is Indias biggest trade partner in South Asia with a volume of over USD 10 billion of trade and both the countries are looking to advance the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement CEPA I would like to suggest 5 focus areas for strengthening India-Bangladesh relationship Trade Technology Connectivity Entrepreneurship Health Tourism he said while addressing the Bangladesh International Investment Summit The minister added that efforts to further improve this connectivity is imperative for the expansion of bilateral trade and realisation of investment potential between Bangladesh and Eastern India PTI RR DRR DRR

New Delhi Oct 22 PTI Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said there are a lot of non-tariff barriers that need to be addressed and wherever India will face an unfair treatment at trade front it will take reciprocal actionNon-tariff barriers to trade are restrictive practices which create impediments in smooth flow of imports and exportsTrade today requires a lot of study deep diving into what practices other countries follow There are a lot of non-tariff barriers that need to be studied we need to work to resolve those barriers Wherever we will find unfair unjust treatment to India India will have to take reciprocal action he said at the 54th convocation of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade IIFTThe minister said India is negotiating free trade agreements with several countries including the UK UAE and Australia and young talents from IIFT can help in achieving the transformational agenda for Indias international tradeOn the countrys exports Goyal exuded confidence that the country will achieve the USD 400 billion target for this fiscalWe are confident of achieving this year We have already done USD 197 billion in six months We are aspiring to go up to USD 1 trillion in the near future each for goods and servicesFor this we need thousands of young boys and girls coming out from IIFT he addedGoyal also called for free trade within a rules-based multilateral trading system with honesty and transparency as core valuesFurther he said during FTA talks the subject of dual degrees and collaborations with IIFT come up for discussionsI would urge you take the process of dual degrees forward to fast-track it and identify institutions of excellence across the worldAustralia the UK and UAE have already shown huge interest in collaborating with Indian universities and institutions of eminence and I would urge IIFT to take this process forward he addedOn granting the institute of national importance tag to IIFT he said the ministry will pursue that in the forthcoming months through the necessary legislative changes that it would requireOn reaching the 100-crore vaccination mark the minister said it is a symbol of Indias ability resilience and strength of 135 crore IndiansThe vaccine century is a true symbol of the collective wisdom of India It is a victory for Make In India for the world he saidMeanwhile commenting on the milestone industry chamber PHDCCIs President Pradeep Multani said it is encouraging to note the vaccination drive has not only increased the confidence of people trade and industry but has also created positive economic projections by various national and international organisationsThe use of technology and scientific approaches for vaccine distribution and procurement are the key to Indias vaccination drive Through this there is high optimism among investors to invest in India as well as some key sectors like housing agriculture sports as these are booming and creating jobs for youth Multani added PTI RR ANU ANU