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India, ASEAN to meet soon over opening service trade
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SME Times News Bureau | 06 Apr, 2010
India and the 10-nation trading bloc ASEAN are likely to resume their talks soon to widen the scope of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between two sides by opening trade in services, after opening up of merchandise trade.
"The second round of negotiations is soon going to begin," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told media on the sidelines of an ASSOCHAM function in the capital on Monday.
After more than six years of intense negotiations, India in August last year had signed a crucial trade agreement 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, the India Inc. has been arguing 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
Last month, senior officials from India and ASEAN had met in Bali. The two sides are hoping to conclude the negotiations by August this year.
The opening up of service trade with ASEAN is an area of immense interest to Indian companies and professionals as ASEAN bloc is a net importer of services.
The service sector is of immense importance to Indian economy as it contributes over 55 percent to India's Gross Domestic Product.
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