New Delhi: India will soon submit a proposal at the World Trade Organisation to start discussions on trade facilitation agreement in services before the WTO ministerial meeting in Argentina.
Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India had already floated the concept note for the same and is now "moving further towards a proposal".
"We will soon be submitting a proposal for more discussions on that," she told reporters here.
The ministerial meeting of the WTO will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 11-14. India is pitching for this trade facilitation agreement in services as the sector contributes over 60 per cent to the GDP and 28 per cent to total employment.
Under this, it has suggested liberalisation of rules for movement of professionals and other steps to reduce transaction costs. Emphasising on the importance of the services sector in pushing the country's economic growth, the minister said India is organising the third 'Global Exhibition on Services (GES)' in April in Greater Noida.
The minister invited global and domestic players to participate in this four-day event, starting from April 17. Speaking at the curtain raiser of this exhibition, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said the sector is very important and areas like IT, healthcare, tourism, logistics hold huge potential for trade and investments.
The sector accounts for 33 per cent total exports. Teaotia said that manufacturing does offer opportunities for the world but it is the services sector which helps in providing cushion against the cyclical slowdown in economies.
Informing about the opportunities in the healthcare sector, she said, "We anticipate (the sector) would reach USD 160 billion by 2017, accounting for about 4.2 per cent of the GDP and potentially USD 280 billion by 2020".
The presence of existing strength in terms of hospitals, doctors and nurses and availability of visa services strengthens India's position to provide healthcare services to the world, she added. Participants from 20 sectors and 600 delegates will attend the GES, which will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The commerce ministry is expecting a footfall of 25,000 visitors in the event besides 400 buyers, 20 foreign ministers and 500 exhibitors. This time, three new sectors viz railways, sports and retail & e-commerce have been added.
When asked about yesterday's violence in Chennai on the Jallikattu issue, Sitharaman termed the incident as unfortunate.
"There was a peaceful protest which was happening for a few days but unfortunately yesterday even as the ordinance was cleared, after it, perhaps for asking a permanent solution, I do not know how it ended up in such a violent form which is very unfortunate," she said.
