Services, investment FTA with Asean likely by year-end: Com secy

NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry is hopeful of signing a free trade pact in services and investments with the 10-nation Asean bloc by the end of the year.

India and some of the key Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have already operationalised the free trade agreement (FTA) in goods from January 1. Both the sides are engaged in intense negotiations to widen the base of the pact by including trade in services and investments.

"Hopefully yes," commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said when asked whether the pact would be signed by the year-end.

The services sector is of key interest to the government as it contributes over 55 per cent of GDP. This sector has also emerged as an important area for export earnings. The government is looking at expanding trade with the Asean in several services, including banking, insurance, health, accountancy, architects, engineers, nurses, doctors and English teachers.

Both the sides are also discussing to recognise each other's educational degrees. However, according to a senior official, the trading bloc is "deadly scared" about Indian professionals entering their markets, as Indians are perceived to have better competitive advantage.

The two sides aim to increase their USD 44-billion trade to USD 50-billion by the end of the year.

The Asean members are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.