India, Australia ink Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS): India and Australia on Saturday signed the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) in a virtual ceremony.

Accordingly, the agreement envisages to enhance trade in goods and services.

The virtual signing ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.

"IndAus ECTA would remove barriers to trade and will open up plethora of opportunities in both goods and services for both nations," said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles.

"It is expected that the bilateral trade would grow from the existing USD 27 billion to nearly USD 45-50 billion over the next fiveyears. There is huge potential in areas like textiles, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, gem and jewellery and IT amongst others, creating huge employment in both countries."