New Delhi [India], October 5 (ANI): Highlighting the potential of the India-EU trade agreement, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the agreement could support employment in labour-intensive sectors such as footwear, textiles, toys and processed products, many of which are linked to micro and small enterprises.

"Those are all in the micro and small medium industry segment, which are labour-intensive," Sitharaman said, speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting, adding that greater access to the European market could generate "more exports, more jobs".

"So when my export to a large block of nations includes these items, whether it is footwear, textile, toys, some processed material, components, they are all in the micro and small medium industry segment, which are labour-intensive," Sitharaman added.

The Minister also mentioned that textiles, particularly, can be in the larger segment, but even then it includes a lot of workforce, particularly women. 

"So when these items find access into the large market like the European Union, these are segments which are going to generate more jobs, more exports, more jobs, and therefore it's the trade deal that has actually worked in favour of jobs," she noted.

Sitharaman mentioned that India had opened 92.5 per cent of its tariff lines and around 97 per cent of tariff value, while the EU had opened 99 per cent in value terms and possibly 97 per cent of tariff lines.

On the other hand, the Finance Minister highlighted that negotiations on the India-US trade agreement have reached a "plateau" where further concessions from either side could be difficult, indicating that the remaining discussions may hinge on finding limited room for compromise.

"The agreement negotiations are still ongoing, although we'd like to believe that both sides have reached a plateau beyond which giving or taking might be very, very difficult. But maybe if there is room to operate from, both sides would do it," Sitharaman said at the meeting.

She said the agreement was still being "hard and very rigorously negotiated", while highlighting the trade imbalance as a key feature of India-US economic relations. (ANI)