The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : India may liberalise trade with ASEAN countries

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Saturday, Jul 05, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

India may liberalise trade with ASEAN countries

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: India will aim to implement liberalisation in trade with ASEAN countries in over 90 per cent of all sectors within a decade, starting with a free trade agreement (FTA) to be signed in a couple of months, according to a Commerce Ministry official.

Speaking at a seminar on India’s free trade agreements, organised by the India-ASEAN-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IASLCCI), P. K. Dash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that the trade agreement would ensure faster economic growth in both India and the ASEAN countries. Although there were many sectors that needed to be looked at carefully to avoid hurting domestic industry, a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), extending the FTA to cover services along with goods, was also being planned on the lines of a similar agreement that India was negotiating with Sri Lanka.

Trade should push development and the interests of the over 300 million Indians living on less than one dollar a day would not be sacrificed for growth, he told the gathering. But, to achieve inclusive growth, India should follow China and expand trade with ASEAN, he said.

Inaugurating the seminar, A. C. Muthiah, Chairman, SPIC, recalled the close trade ties between India and ASEAN countries. He suggested that ASEAN+2 — bringing India and China together with the ASEAN countries — along the lines of the European Union (EU) would be best for trade in the region.

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