India says Europe trade group commits to $100 bln 15-year deal: Minister Goyal

India and a trade group of four European nations signed an eco-nomic agreement on Sunday aimed at increasing trade and investment, capping nearly 16 years of negotiations, said Piyush Goyal, India’s union trade minister.

The deal is a binding agreement for the European Free Trade Association — Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein — to invest $100 billion over 15 years in the fast-growing market of 1.4 billion people, Goyal said.

“It is a modern trade agreement, fair, equitable and win-win for all five countries,” Goyal told a press conference.

The deal is the result of 21 rounds of negotiation, said the head of Swiss Economic Affairs, Guy Parmelin, calling India a market of immense opportunities for trade and investment.

India in the last two years has signed trade agreements with Australia and the UAE, and officials say a deal with Britain is in the final stages, all part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of achieving $1 trillion in annual exports by 2030.

The European group, formed in 1960 as a counterweight to the European Union, is the world’s 10th-largest goods trader and the fifth-largest in services. It has signed around 30 trade agreements with 40 countries and territories outside the EU.

Analysts said the pact may not immediately help India to cut a large trade gap with the group, but will help draw investment into key industries.

“The trade agreement will help attract investment in critical sectors like medical devices, clean energy, and expand exports to other countries by accessing Swiss and Norway technologies,” said trade economist Ram Singh, who heads a New Delhi thinktank, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.