India-ASEAN to sign trade pact on Dec 18: Ramesh

NEW DELHI: India and the 10-nation ASEAN will sign around December 18 this year the Free Trade Agreement in goods, negotiations for which have been wrapped up, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said today.

"We will formally be signing the FTA with ASEAN around December 18," Ramesh said at a seminar on ASEAN-India FTA organised by think-tank RIS and the Asian Development Bank.

The deal will be inked at the India-ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Ramesh said India has shown "remarkable flexibility" in terms of the Rules of Origin and approach to tariff heading, while negotiating the trade pact with the Association of South East Asian Nations despite having a trade deficit with the bloc.

In 2007-08, India's exports to ASEAN were USD 16 billion while imports were USD 24 billion. After the signing the pact in goods, the two sides would begin negotiations for an agreement in services and investment.

India concluded talks for a FTA with the 10-nation bloc last month. While it would eliminate or substantially reduce duties on almost 96 per cent of the items it trades with ASEAN, India is protecting its sensitive agriculture sector by keeping over 300 items out of the trade agreement.