PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1200  GMT) 23 MAY 2007  
 
PRESS/TPRB/283 
23 May 2007 
 
(07-2046) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: INDIA 
Further reforms needed to su stain fast economic growth 
India’s economic performance has continued to be impressive since 2001/02 and growth has been 
particularly rapid since 2003/04 averaging over 8.5% with over 9% expected for 2006/07. This 
performance is largely due to unilateral trade and structural reforms, in particular in services, 
according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of India. Rapid economic growth has also resulted in an improvement in social indicators such as poverty and infant 
mortality. 
 The report notes that if India’s high rates of econ omic growth are to be sustained, reforms need to 
be deepened, in particular to address infrastructure bottlenecks such as transport and electricity, 
which continue to constrain growth. In addition further structural reforms will be required in 
agriculture, to address the sector’s relatively lo w productivity and the prob lems faced by marginal 
farmers. 
 Continued structural reform, the report notes, to gether with greater investment in physical and 
human capital would also help to generate much needed productive employment for new entrants 
to the labour force.  
The report, along with a policy statement by the Government of India, w ill be the basis for the 
fourth Trade Policy Review (TPR) of India by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO on 23 and 
25 May 2007. 
 
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp283_e.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  > Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Report by the Government of India PRESS/TPRB/283 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 • Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member 
countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents 
are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 
Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews   
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly 
Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Central African Republic : 11 and 13 June 2007 
Indonesia: 27 and 29 June 2007 
Bahrain: 18 and 20 July 2007 
 
For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews 
  
END