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Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E.M.Sudarsana Natchiappan on Saturday said a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would be signed with Australia soon and India was looking forward to entering into similar agreements with European countries as well.
Addressing journalists after inspecting Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Marketing Yard, established here with financial assistance provided by his ministry, he said talks between the Indian and Australian delegations on finalising an FTA had been progressing well.
On the steps taken by the Centre to arrest the declining value of rupee, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been personally monitoring the situation.
The government was working on controlling inflation, increasing production, augmenting exports and earning foreign exchange, he pointed out.
Mr.Natchiappan dismissed reports of several nations finding the United States an attractive destination for fresh investments than India as the reason for the falling value of rupee.
“India remains the most attractive destination in so far as foreign direct investment was concerned. Even companies in the US prefer India to other nations to do business. A U.S. delegation is slated to meet me on Sunday (July 21). A Japanese delegation met me at my office on Friday. All this shows that there is no threat on the foreign investment was front,” Mr.Natchiappan added.
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