Nath to leave for Singapore to conclude FTA talks with ASEAN

NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will leave for Singapore tonight to conclude talks on a free-trade agreement with ASEAN that will open up a 1.5 billion market for India and the 10-nation bloc.

Though running late by two years, the formal announcement for conclusion of the talks is expected at the India-ASEAN Economic Ministers consultation meeting in Singapore starting tomorrow, to be attended by trade ministers from both sides.

The agreement would finally be signed at the India-ASEAN summit in December in Bangkok, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Under the FTA, India would eliminate or substantially reduce duties on almost 96 per cent of the items it trades with ASEAN but protect the sensitive farm sector by keeping over 300 items out of the trade pact.

The other sensitive areas which New Delhi would protect from the FTA include textiles and chemicals, the two areas of strength for the ASEAN.

In all, India would keep 489 items out of the tariff cut by putting them in the negative list but the tariff reduction and elimination commitment would cover 95.65 per cent of the country's 30-billion-dollar trade with the south East-Asian trading bloc.

India-ASEAN trade is likely to grow to 50 billion dollars by 2010. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam make up the 10-nation ASEAN bloc.