 |
| [PHOTO: Espensorvik/Flickr/CC BY 2.0] |
By Sameer Pushp*
It is said that data is the new raw material of business; it
is the new oil which fuels the business and livelihood on this planet.
Technological progress and globalization have profoundly changed the way our
data is collected, accessed and used. “Data is a precious thing and will last
longer than the systems themselves,” say Tim Berners-Lee.
As we know that India- EU relations go back to the early
1960s. India was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations
with the (then) European Economic Community (EEC). India-EU relations have grown exponentially
from what used to be mostly a trade and economic issues driven relationship to
one covering all areas of interaction. The two sides have agreed on a Strategic
Partnership and adopted a Joint Action Plan. Today, EU is one of our largest
trading partners, and an important source of technology and home to a large and
influential Diaspora. While trade and
investment still continue to be an important aspect of our bilateral
relationship, the relations stand qualitatively transformed as signified by our
bilateral efforts to develop common approaches to addressing new and emerging
challenges.
On 25th January 2012, the European Commission proposed a
comprehensive reform of the EU's 1995 data protection rules to strengthen
online privacy rights and boost Europe's digital economy. The 27 EU Member
States have implemented the 1995 rules differently, resulting in divergences in
enforcement. A single law will do away with the current fragmentation and costly
administrative burdens, leading to savings for businesses of around €2.3
billion a year. The initiative will help reinforce consumer confidence in
online services, providing a much needed boost to growth, jobs and innovation
in Europe.
India stated facing problems dealing with the multiplicity
of laws and getting its human resources into overseas to work especially in
Euro zone. India is perceived as service economy. The high growth rate achieved
by the Indian economy over the last decade has much to owe to the growth of
services sector in the country. The services sector contributes around 30% of
India’s total trade, around 40% to exports, and 25% of our imports. It accounts
for more than 50% of FDI into the country. Internationally, India has registered
the highest growth rate of service exports in recent years, averaging around
27% during 2000-08 as against the world average of 14%.
In light of the above mentioned strengths we have positioned
ourselves as a ‘demanders’ in Services negotiations at the WTO as well as in
the bilateral FTA negotiations. The objective behind these negotiations is to
secure maximum and effective market access for our services exports. Based on
our comparative advantage our critical requests in the services areas have focused
on getting meaningful commitments in Cross Border Supply (Mode 1) and Movement
of Natural Persons (Mode 4). One of the areas of crucial interest to India is
development of disciplines in Domestic Regulations involving qualifications and
licensing requirements and procedures, without which Mode 4 access gets
severely impeded.
In November 2012 a bilateral meeting with the European
Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud Mr. Algirdas
Semeta, the Union Minister for Commerce, Industry & Textiles Anand Sharma,
highlighted the need for an early conclusion of ambitious and balanced
Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and EU. Sharma
stressed the agreement needs to be balanced and should address areas of core
interest to India such as services through Mode 1 and Mode 4, agricultural
market access and disciplining of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) and
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) for translating concessions into effective
market access. He said that this is important both in terms of optics as well
as for obtaining the requisite balance in the India-EU BTIA.
Sharma emphasized that in mode-1, India would need to be
declared as data secure in order to provide access. The European Union is in the
process of undertaking a study to assess whether India’s laws meet the EU
directive. “It is our clear analysis that our existing law does meet the
required EU standards. We would urge that this issue is sorted out quickly and
necessary comfort in declaring India data secure in overall sense needs to be
given as almost all the major Fortune -500 companies have trusted India with their
critical data”, said Sharma.
With a
number of recent reform measures in India, which includes, opening of
multi-brand retail trading sector to foreign investors; introducing flexibility
in conditions for FDI in single brand product retail trading; allowing FDI in
power exchanges; increasing the limit of FDI in Broadcasting sector; allowing
FDI through foreign airlines in Civil Aviation sector, Sharma emphasized
India’s attractiveness as investment destination in a whole range of sectors
from infrastructure to food processing, renewable energy, clean technology,
bio-technology, health care, among others. He also highlighted that EU being a
union of over 20 countries has strengths in almost all areas in which India
needs investment. “Many countries of the EU are particularly strong in
state-of-art technology development including green and clean technology for
manufacturing industry. Although, the EU accounts for close to 50% of the
technical collaborations approved but there is scope for enhancing technology
transfer in a range of manufacturing activities,” Sharma added.
The cumulative FDI inflows from EU to India are around USD
44.31 billion (April 2000 to July 2012), while on the other hand, the Indian
direct investments in EU are of the order of about USD 20 billion (April 2004
–October 2009). It should also be noted that the FDI inflows from April 2011-
March 2012, which stood at USD 46.8 billion, showed an increase of around 35
per cent over the last year.
As the world stand on the cusp of financial recovery it is
an opportunity to build upon and maximize our potential as an important
economic power. The recent changes in the global economic landscape shows the
epicenter of growth has finally moved to our time zone. India resource and size
and its demographic profile, sets a strong stage for advantage in service
sector which indeed is crucially linked to development. Times are changing fast
and the world is looking forward to us to play an active role of a financial
life boat in this globally turning economic paradigm. A strong skilled work force and people to
people partnership can take India to the position which has been due since long
time. (PIB Feature).
(*Sameer Pushp is a Freelance Writer. Views
expressed by him in this article are his own and do not necessarily
reflect the views of news.BDTV.in.)