/ News, Research, Events
Guest Talk by Visiting Professor Niti Bhasin on the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA states and India
Professor Niti Bhasin gave an insightful talk titled "Opportunities and Challenges of the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and India" on 28 April 2025. She presented core findings from her joint research project with Professor Rolf Weder and his team at the Center of International Economics and Business on the implications of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
Professor Bhasin compellingly highlighted the importance and novel aspect of the TEPA, a free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA; Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) signed in March 2024. She concluded that the agreement will likely come into effect in a form that will benefit all parties of the treaty. While the European countries gain access to India’s labour and goods market, India will be allowed to export services more easily to its counterparts. Specifically, the ICT and consulting sector, crucial to India’s economy, will find lower barriers and tariffs in the EFTA countries.
Bhasin also argued in clear terms that the soft commitment by EFTA countries to create one million jobs over the course of the next 15 years is a novelty unusual for free trade agreements. She found this both a key opportunity and a challenge for EFTA countries to deliver on their promises.
In Bhasin’s analysis, the agreement is ambitious and will require continuous coordination so that Indian producers are not excessively harmed by European competition and so that Indian exporters manage to comply with EFTA regulations and technical norms.
Bhasin’s talk was the culmination of her temporary residence at University of Basel sponsored by the SNSF Scientific Exchange program. She used the opportunity to forge collaborations as well as to interview key stakeholders of TEPA from business and government sectors.
Niti Bhasin is a professor at the Department of Commerce at the Delhi School of Economics (University of Delhi). Professor Bhasin’s expertise is in the areas of international business, free trade agreements and foreign direct investment with a special emphasis on multinational enterprises from emerging markets. She has also studied the role of environmental factors in firms’ internationalization. Most recently, she has completed a consultancy and research assignment on the gains from a Free Trade Agreement between India and the EU for the Indian government. She has published a number of papers in scientific journals and written several books. She has also been conferred the ‘Excellence Award for Teachers in Service’ in 2023 by the Honorable Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi, India.