India seeks to forge deeper economic partnership with ASEAN
With an aim to boost economic and trade partnership with the ASEAN members, Modi had, at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit held in Myanmar in November 2014, pitched for the “Act East Policy” and had jointly created ASEAN-India Free Trade AreaWith the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Malaysia, India is eyeing a more robust economic integration with the ASEAN countries. Modi is schedule to be on a two-day visit to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 13th ASEAN-India Summit on November 21 and the 10th East Asia Summit on November 22. With an aim to boost economic and trade partnership with the ASEAN members, Modi had, at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit held in Myanmar in November 2014, pitched for the “Act East Policy” and had jointly created ASEAN-India Free Trade Area. During the upcoming ‘East India Summit’, India is expected to sign seven agreements; among others will be a joint statement on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. The 10 ASEAN members, its 6 FTA partners, and India are negotiating the RCEP which is expected to be concluded in 2016. Once implemented, the agreement would enable Indian businesses to access the $17-trillion RCEP economy. India and ASEAN have 30 dialogue mechanisms. These are in commerce, tourism, agriculture, renewable energy and telecommunications, among others. ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner, while the latter is the sixth largest trade partner for ASEAN. In 2014-15, trade between India and ASEAN reached $76.52 billion, with India’s exports to ASEAN being $31.81 billion. Investments between ASEAN and India have been on the rise in the past few years. From April 2007 to March 2015, India has invested $38.6 billion in ASEAN, while the latter has invested $32.4 billion in the Indian market. India’s exports to ASEAN are expected to grow considerably as the region constitutes a huge middle-class market which is also looking to benefit from the economic growth in India. Following the two summits, Modi will have bilateral meetings with the top Malaysian leaders, to whom he is expected to pitch India as an attractive investment destination, besides discussing other regional and international issues. India’s trade with Malaysia was about $14 billion in 2014. It imported over $9.7 billion worth of goods including essential commodities, fuels, vegetable oils and fruit products. Malaysia’s investments in India have been particularly in infrastructure and construction sector. So far, it has invested over $13 billion in India. During his meeting with the ASEAN leaders, Modi will also promote freedom of navigation in the contentious South China Sea - where China has been undertaking construction activities since 2013 – to expedite global trade. “We propagate freedom of navigation and over flight in the South China Sea should be unimpeded. We always ask for a speedy conclusion and implementation of the declaration of code of conduct in the South China Sea,” said Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs.
November 19, 2015 |4:00pm IST
to success.