India, ASEAN ready trade plan

India and Association of South-East Asian Nations are working on a list of items on which the two sides will bring down tariffs faster and implement it by January next year.

"An early harvest programme under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between India and ASEAN consisting of an agreed common list of items on, which tariff concessions are to be exchanged on a fast-track basis is expected to come into effect from January 2005," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said.

Co-chairing the third ASEAN Economic Ministers and India consultations in Jakarta, he said, "I see the early harvest programme not only as a confidence measure but also as a commercial instrument, which will bestow upon us a substantial level of economic gain -- a win-win situation for us all."

The EHP was to come into effect from November 2004 but the date had to be deferred by two months as negotiations were not yet complete.

"The working group of rules of origin needs to do some work and resolve outstanding issues. If we approach these matters with open minds and allow our negotiators the necessary flexibilities there is no reason why these problems cannot be resolved," Kamal Nath said, according to an official release in New Delhi.

The ASEAN side at the meeting was led by Indonesian Minister for Industry and Trade Rini Soewandi.

Trade ministers of India and ASEAN said establishment of free trade area would give further impetus to trade between the two sides. Indo-ASEAN trade grew at the rate of 11.22 per cent every year between 2002-03 to touch $12.09 billion.

"For a region as fast growing as ASEAN and an economy as large and strong as India, a mere 10 per cent annual growth rate is certainly not enough. I think we must be more ambitious. We should make concerted efforts to double the volume of trade within three years," Kamal Nath said.

Both sides also announced the establishment of ASEAN-India Business Council that would provide the private sector perspective and feedback on initiatives aimed at broadening and deepening economic linkages between the two, the official release said.

While reaffirming India's commitment to multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation, Kamal Nath said if regional trade agreements are entered into in right spirit that would complement and supplement the multilateral system.

"It is to this end that India is engaged not only with our immediate neighbours in South Asia through SAFTA, but also with Latin American countries through MERCOSUR, the countries of Southern Africa through SACU and closer home with BIMST-EC, which we see as a bridge between SAARC and ASEAN nations," he said.