UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that his government remains committed to working “as quickly as possible” for the successful conclusion of the free trade agreement (FTA) with India, as most of the substantive negotiation conversations were completed at the end of last month. At a House of Commons session on the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Thursday, the leader updated Parliament that he reviewed progress on the FTA during his first meeting with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, since taking charge as the UK Prime Minister. He was questioned by Opposition Labour Party
India’s economy is positioned positively compared to other Asian emerging markets such as Korea and Taiwan and set to surpass Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, said Jonathan Garner, Chief Asia and Emerging Market Equity Strategist, Morgan Stanley, in an interview. The expert added that India will have the third-largest stock market by the end of this decade. The expert called India to be one of the most expensive markets and has enjoyed earnings growth in the current financial year, while Korean and Taiwanese economies have suffered blows due to sem
India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday advanced their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, vowing to augment cooperation in diverse areas, including maritime, cyber security, and interoperability of digital financial systems. Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar led the Indian delegation to the Asean-India Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The delegation included Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Under maritime cooperation, India and Asean will work on maritime security, countering piracy, search and rescue operati
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed energy and trade ties with Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during a visit to Hanoi on Sunday. On the first visit of a German leader to Vietnam in more than a decade, Scholz stopped in Vietnam before visiting the G20 leaders' summit in Indonesia. The visit underlined Vietnam's rising role in global supply chains and interest of German firms to take their manufacturing operations beyond China in Asia. Speaking at the joint news conference with Pham Minh Chinh, Scholz called for deeper trade relations with Vietnam and committed to help the A
India's annual wholesale price index (WPI) inflation reduced to 8.39% year-on-year in October 2022, to come in single digits and the lowest since March 2021, thanks to the reduction in commodity prices. The WPI came in double digits for 18 consecutive months from April 2021 till September 2022. The inflation last month was lower than the 10.70% recorded in the previous month of September. This is the first time in 19 months that WPI inflation has come in single digit, last recorded at 7.89% in March 2021. In its statement issued on Monday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry credited
Kenya has inked a deal with Australian firm Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to establish a green hydrogen and ammonia plant that will begin its plan to utilise green energy across the African continent. The deal was signed on the sidelines of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt. Kenya President William Ruto signed the deal with the FFI Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest. The company will set up an initial 300 MW green hydrogen and ammonia plant in the next three years, which will also produce fertiliser. The project
Malaysia’s economy posted double-digit growth in the third quarter of the year, boosted by rising domestic demand and strong exports, its central bank said on Friday. The rise is the first time in over a year. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 14.2% in July-September from a year earlier, at a faster pace than the 8.9% annual rise in the previous quarter. The increase is also the fastest pace of growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy registered a growth of 16.1%. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) credited the growth to continuous expansion in domestic demand
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based money transfers between India and Singapore will become possible soon, as the countries are all set to link their respective fast payment systems, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and PayNow, said India’s High Commissioner in Singapore P Kumaran. The technical work to connect UPI and PayNow has been finished. The central banks of India and Singapore, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) respectively, will collaborate on the move. The service will enable easy fund transfers between the countries at the lowe
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionally agreed to a $4.5-billion support programme for Bangladesh on Wednesday. The aid will help the South Asian country evade economic instability escalating into a crisis, said its Finance Minister A.H.M. Mustafa Kamal. The IMF said that a “staff-level agreement” had been reached with Bangladesh for a 42-month arrangement, which includes about $3.2 billion from its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and about $1.3 billion from its new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The objectives of the support
The EU-India InnoCenter, a programme financed by the European Union’s research and innovation framework programme Horizon 2020, is bringing high-impact and unique tech startups (Series-A funded) to explore, enter and scale in the Indian market. The ventures are coming for the first in-country flagship event, Blue Carpet Night, to be hosted by EU-India InnoCenter in Bengaluru. The Ambassador of the European Union to India Ugo Astuto will virtually launch the meet. The event will showcase European Innovation on November 15. The visiting technology start-ups are focused on sustainability