Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, today addressed the India -EU Business Summit held annually on the sidelines of India-EU Summit. The Summit took place at Brussels and was organized by the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) and Business Europe along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The theme of the Summit this year was "Partnership Opportunities for Sustainable Development". 

In his remarks, Shri Sharma mentioned that strategic partnership between India and EU is underpinned by strong business relations and the relationship has expanded in the last few years to span all areas of engagement. Shri Sharma emphasized ten areas of cooperation for the decade, namely, Infrastructure, the entire gamut of Services industry, Skill development, entire spectrum of renewable energy, nuclear commerce, the entire value chain of agro business, innovation and research, space, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. 

In his address, Shri Sharma also expressed optimism for an early conclusion of the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) with balanced gains for both India and EU. Strategic partnership: India-EU cooperation priorities aim to deepen trade and investment ties with a sustainable development focus. Strategic partnership between India and the European Union is framed as a broad economic cooperation agenda with ten priority areas-infrastructure, services, skill development, renewable energy, nuclear commerce, agribusiness value chains, innovation and research, space, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals-targeted for enhanced bilateral engagement. The address expresses optimism about an early conclusion of the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement to secure balanced gains and deepen trade and investment ties under a sustainable development lens.