India-ASEAN to meet soon over service trade

SME Times News Bureau 29 Dec, 2009 India and the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc have agreed to meet for a series of talks over the next seven months to reach a deal on opening up services trade, after opening up of merchandise trade. "Negotiators will meet here from January 12-16 to take forward the talks on services trade," reported a news agency citing a senior Commerce Ministry official who added that more interactions are scheduled for March, April, May and July. So far, two rounds of negotiations have already taken place in this regard. After more than six years of intense negotiations, India in August had signed a crucial Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the ASEAN for duty-free import and export of 4,000 products, ranging from steel to apparel to sugar and tobacco, over a period of eight years. However, a section of Indian industry had argued that the ASEAN countries would benefit more than India from the FTA and the imbalance could be corrected only through enlargement of the agreement to include not only goods but services and investments also The pact on trade in goods under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement will come into effect from January 1, 2010, and is committed to begin breaking duty barriers on goods. The services sector contributes over 55 per cent to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). "We are interested in most of the services in ASEAN, including banking and insurance," the official said. The ASEAN region is a net importer of services and it imported nearly $180 billion worth of services in 2007. The Commerce Ministry official was quoted to say that India wants more access for its professionals in ASEAN nations like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. There are a lot of opportunities for professionals in these nations in the areas of information technology, English teaching, medicine and architecture. Even though the FTAs do not provide immigration, they make it easier for the services professionals to acquire business contracts. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are the 10 members of the ASEAN.