Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry (Photo: PTI)
India on Friday called for addressing concerns of its domestic industries affected by the current free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation ASEAN bloc as the two regions negotiate a review of the pact.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also stressed the need to rectify unequal tariff liberalisation under the agreement.
Goyal said this during the progress assessment exercise of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in Goods (AITIGA) review talks in Laos.
All ministers noted the progress of negotiations for the revision of the agreement.
“Minister Goyal in his address highlighted the need to address the damage caused to industries by the existing FTA and inequitable tariff liberalisation during the review. He also cited India’s ongoing efforts to integrate with other economies through FTAs and stressed the urgency of improving AITIGA, which could otherwise lead to diversion of bilateral trade to other regions,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
The meeting was attended by economic ministers or their representatives from the 10 ASEAN countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
He noted that Ministers reiterated their commitment to ensuring that the outcome of the review is mutually beneficial and commercially meaningful and makes AITIGA more effective, user-friendly, simple and trade-friendly for businesses.
They encouraged the joint committee, which is engaged in review talks, to speed up negotiations to conclude the review by 2025.
The review of the agreement is a long-standing demand of the Indian industry and the country is looking forward to an improved pact that will address the current asymmetries in bilateral trade and make trade more balanced and sustainable.
Goyal reiterated India’s request to set up Joint Committees under the two separate agreements on services and investment, signed in 2014, to review the implementation of these pacts.
The Minister is in Vientiane, Laos, to participate in the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM-India).
The revision is high on India’s priority list to make it more user-friendly, simple and trade-friendly for businesses.
The next round of official talks for the ongoing review meeting of the India-ASEAN free trade agreement on goods will be held in November.
The third round of negotiations concluded on August 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The pact was signed in 2009. ASEAN is a major trading partner of India, accounting for around 11 per cent of India’s global trade.
India’s exports to the 10-nation ASEAN bloc stood at $41.2 billion in 2023-24, while imports totaled $80 billion in the last fiscal year. ASEAN accounts for 10.9% of India’s global trade.
India calls for review of the agreement to remove barriers and misuse of the trade pact.
On the sidelines of the AEM-India meeting, Goyal held a bilateral meeting with Helene Budliger Artieda, Secretary for Economic Affairs of Switzerland.
Both sides discussed progress in ratification of the India-EFTA (European Free Trade Association) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement signed on March 10 and discussed the way forward to facilitate commitment of USD 100 billion of FDI (foreign direct investment) by EFTA states under the agreement.
The members of EFTA are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 20, 2024 | 11:08 PM IS
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