New Delhi, Aug 18: Israel expects two more rounds of negotiations with India on the proposed free trade agreement, with the two sides likely to have greater clarity on the pact by February 2027, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar said.

In an interaction with media, Azar said the second round of negotiations was held last month, following an agreement on the terms of reference reached at the end of last year.

“We expect to have two more rounds, one in October and probably the last one by February and I think that by then we will know exactly where we stand,” he said.

Asked about the potential benefits of the FTA for both countries, Azar said discussions have so far focused on traditional market access issues, but the negotiations also cover areas such as reciprocal buybacks and cooperation.

He said bridging the gap in market access could be challenging because Israel has already lowered its tariffs and the two markets differ considerably in size.

However, the Israeli envoy identified high-tech cooperation as an area with significant potential for expanding bilateral economic ties.

“The greatest potential, I think, lies in high-tech cooperation,” he told media.

Azar further noted that greater innovation cooperation between the two countries could encourage Israeli companies to operate more freely in the Indian market.

The envoy’s comments come amid efforts by India and Israel to deepen their economic and technology partnership.

Earlier in May, Azar highlighted six core values underpinning the bilateral relationship — civilisational resilience, the fight against terrorism, democratic values, innovation & competitiveness, religious tolerance, and inclusive development.

India and Israel share a special and unique relationship and stressed the need to translate their common values into greater cooperation and investment, according to his video shared on X.

Seoul: Youth employment has fallen sharply in sectors highly exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) technology since the emergence of generative AI chatbots, a central bank report showed on Tuesday.

Over the four-year period from June 2022 to June 2026, the number of jobs held by people aged 15 to 29 fell by 285,000, according to the report published by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Of the total decline, 268,000 jobs, or 94 percent, were in sectors highly exposed to AI, such as information technology (IT) services, publishing, computer programming and professional services, reports Yonhap news agency.

In contrast, the number of jobs held by people in their 50s rose by 230,000 over the same period, with 173,000 of the increase coming from AI-exposed sectors.

The report set 2022 as the starting point for the study, as ChatGPT was launched late that year.

By sector, youth employment fell 31.4 percent over the cited period in IT services, while it declined 27.4 percent in publishing, which includes software and web design professionals.

Youth employment decreased 16.6 percent in computer programming and 11.6 percent in professional services.

Unemployment rates by educational background also showed young people’s vulnerability to AI technology, the BOK report showed.

From 2019 to 2022, the average unemployment rate among young people with undergraduate or graduate degrees was 8.2 percent, compared with 8 percent for those who graduated from secondary school or junior college.

After 2022, the rates fell to 7 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, widening the gap to 1.6 percentage points.

The BOK said the country’s continued population decline may have contributed significantly to changes in youth employment over the period, while the advent of AI may have accelerated the trend.

“AI can increase the productivity of young people to a large extent. This also means they can be replaced by AI,” said Oh Sam-il, a researcher at the BOK’s research department. “However, we cannot say that AI is entirely behind the reduction in youth employment. Instead, AI is accelerating the trend of the diminishing career ladder for young people.”

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks traded lower in early deals on Tuesday as a spike in crude oil prices above $91 a barrel weighed on investor sentiment amid fading hopes of the US-Iran peace deal.

In the morning trade, Sensex declined 365 points or 0.47 per cent to 77,362, hitting an intraday low. While Nifty traded 76 points or 0.31 per cent lower at 24,211.

Sector-wise, Nifty IT was top loser and slumped more than 1 per cent. Meanwhile, Nifty MidSmall IT & Telecom fell 0.62 per cent, while Nifty Realty declined 0.4 per cent.

Similarly, financial services, private banks, media, metals and FMCG indices also traded marginally lower. On the other hand, Nifty Auto gained 0.40 per cent, PSU Bank rose 0.29 per cent.

Ahead of market opening, analysts said the rise in Brent crude and the increase in US 10-year Treasury yields likely weigh on equities in the near term.

The US 10-year bond yield has risen to 4.73 per cent, which could be negative for foreign institutional investor flows, they said.

However, analysts noted that a resilient Indian economy and signs of an earnings growth turnaround could provide support to domestic equities.

They further stated that domestic institutional investors which have substantial funds, could step in to buy significant dips, while retail investors may use market declines to gradually accumulate quality stocks for the long term. However, heightened geopolitical is likely to keep markets volatile.

The selling in the markets came after reports highlighted Iran’s indication that it could adopt a more offensive posture and US President Donald Trump’s ruling out an extension to the ceasefire arrangement have intensified concerns over potential disruptions to energy supplies.

After that, Brent crude — the international oil benchmark — rose 0.60 per cent from the previous close to trade above $91 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude also gained more than 1 per cent to $85.37 a barrel.