Mumbai: India should reach a free-trade agreement with the European Union to enlarge markets for European and Indian business, Austrian minister for commerce and labour Martin Bartenstein said today.

Bartenstein, who held talks with commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath on a host of bilateral and multilateral issues, including progress on the India-EU free trade agreement, expressed doubt over the Doha Round of WTO negotiations making any headway in the near future.

The two ministers emphasised the timeline of 2008-end for completion of negotiations on India-EU FTA, officially known as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement.

The Austrian minister said the EU was working on a 'Bluecard' scheme on the lines of the US 'Greencard' for expatriates. "Under the Bluecard scheme, there would be a uniform regime for all 27 EU members," he said adding that Austria and other EU members were keen on leveraging Indian human resource.

Meanwhile, Swiss Ambassador to India Dominique Dreyer said Switzerland is looking to sign a free trade agreement with India.

India has been identified as a country of high priority in the framework of Switzerland's foreign economic strategy, he said at the 'Go Global Via Switzerland Investment Conference' in Mumbai.

The conference is part of the official programme of the Swiss government for promoting foreign investments in Switzerland.

Currently, 24 Indian companies, including Tata AG, Birla AG, Ramco, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Mindtree, Divi's Laboratories, Amas Bank, Preroy AG, Dr Reddy's, Hexaware Technologies, Neillsoft Ltd, Glenmark and Aftek Ltd, have a presence in Switzerland.

Dreyer said: "We are looking forward to 60 Indian companies, mainly from pharma, oil, commodities, automobile, IT sectors to invest in Switzerland in the next 3 to 4 years."