India and Asean have concluded discussions on a free trade agreement on services and investment and the pact will be announced on December 20.
This apart, trade between India and Asean nations is poised to touch the $100-billion mark by 2015, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.
Currently, trade between India and Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) is worth $80 billion.
Inaugurating the 2nd India-Asean Business Fair 2012 here on Tuesday, Sharma said early operationalisation of the Services and Investment Agreement would provide greater impetus to trade and investment flows.
He urged the trade ministers to diversify the trade basket to ensure economic gains on both sides. India views its partnership with Asean as crucial for sustaining the growth momentum.
“We would like to benefit from the Asean experience in sectors such as infrastructure, agro-processing, retail and value-added manufacturing. Equally, Indian companies can be invaluable partners for Asean economies in augmenting their productivity,” Sharma added.
After operationalising free trade agreement in goods in August last year, member nations engaged in widening the base of the pact by including services and investments. However, the talks were getting delayed due to differences in opening the sectors.
“It will be a game-changer for the nature of economic relations between the two zones,” Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said.
India and the bloc – which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – already has a free-trade agreement on goods, which was signed in 2010.
Sixteen countries – Asean members plus Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand and South Korea – are part of the talks on a comprehensive partnership, which aims to allow a greater flow of goods and services and avoid a melee of overlapping deals.
bindu.menon@thehindu.co.in