New Delhi: Ireland backs efforts by India and the European Union (EU) to finalise a free trade agreement (FTA) within the year as a deal will make trade “more friction-less” though such pacts are not simple, Irish higher education and innovation minister James Lawless said on Monday.
Lawless, who is visiting India with a business delegation as part of Ireland’s practice of sending senior ministers to key capitals on the occasion of St Patrick’s Day, also highlighted opportunities in Ireland for Indian skilled workers such as healthcare personnel, fintech professionals and STEM graduates.
Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently set their negotiators the target of finalising an FTA by the end of the year, Lawless said Ireland wants a deal since it will make trade “more friction-less and more seamless” and bolster two-way trade, currently worth 16 billion euros.
“But I’m going to be honest and say that a new FTA is not simple. I’m not involved directly in that conversation, it’s something that the EU Commission is doing, but I would just say from my own experience that it is never as straightforward as it seems,” he said.
“I know they have set a goal of end of the year. I wish them well…I would say that I would strongly support the FTA [because] we are a big fan of free trade. We think that countries do best when they can work with each other and trade with each other, talk to each other without barriers,” Lawless said against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s threat to hit trade partners with reciprocal tariffs from April 2.
Lawless pointed to the scope for expanding trade in 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 IDs, and data handling and storage. “Indian companies and engineers are leading the way in these growth services space, as also business process management. I think we will continue to be consumers of those services in Ireland, we will need high quality products,” he said.
With Ireland already home to some 100,000 Indians and 9,000 Indian students, the single largest group of foreign students, Lawless highlighted opportunities for Indian skilled workers. “STEM graduates are always in high demand in Ireland, right across mathematics, science, engineering and technology, because we focus on technology and standard engineering,” he said.
“We have an ongoing need for healthcare professionals – nurses, physios, occupational therapists, speech therapists – and there’s already a strong tradition of Indian workers in those jobs,” he said, adding that Ireland also needs professionals for the financial services industry, new technologies such as blockchain and big data, and regulatory technology.