India ready to sign FTA with ASEAN: Prime Minister

Unveiling a roadmap to boost economic ties, India today pledged to sign an agreement with the 10-member ASEAN bloc on services and investment by this year end and to reach an accord on FTA by next year.
The 11th ASEAN-India Summit, attended by Heads of Government of the member states and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, welcomed India's 'Look East' policy and the decision to set up a separate mission for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a full time resident Ambassador for the region.
Addressing the summit, Singh said that India was ready to sign an FTA with ASEAN on services and investment to boost their bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2015, from USD 76 billion last year.

"India stands ready for the signature of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement on Services and Investment by the end of this year and its early implementation.
"This will complement our Agreement on Goods and bolster our economic partnership," he said, adding that initiatives have also been taken by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to revitalise the ASEAN-India Business Council and to set up an ASEAN-India Trade and Investment Centre.
In the chairman's statement, ASEAN members said they were heartened to note that bilateral trade surpassed the target of USD 70 billion and reached 76 billion.

We (ASEAN) look forward to "signing the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreement by the end of 2013 and its operationalisation by July 2014".

"We note with satisfaction the progress of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which would build upon the ASEAN+1 Free Trade Agreements including the ASEAN-India FTA.
"We acknowledge that the RCEP recognises ASEAN Centrality in the emerging regional economic architecture and contribute to economic integration, equitable economic development and strengthening economic cooperation among participating countries In this regard, we looked forward to its timely conclusion by 2015," the statement said.
The secretariat for ASEAN, a ten-member bloc of countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is based in Jakarta.