India's "Look East" policy appears to have gained crucial
momentum following the recent Asean-India Summit in New Delhi, marked by state
visits by all but one of the Asean leaders.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, who hosted the December 20 summit, hailed the conclusion of negotiations
for the Asean-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements at the summit
as the latest milestone in economic cooperation between the two major trading
partners.
Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra was among the nine Asean leaders who took part in the 20th
Commemorative Summit in the Indian capital. All 10 Asean leaders except the
president of the Philippines were present at the summit, which was followed by
the flag-down of the Asean-India car rally in New Delhi on December 21.
India and Asean countries will
sign the historic comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) covering goods,
services and investment around August 2013.
Each of the 10 Asean member
countries' parliaments will have to ratify the Asean-India FTAs. Thailand's
Parliament is expected to do so in April.
"The signing of these
agreements will facilitate further economic integration between Asean and
India, and also contribute to the overall East Asian economic
integration," according to the Vision Statement issued following the
summit.
India is currently Asia's third
largest economy after China and Japan in terms of purchasing parity. Singh said
the annual trade volume between India and Asean was expected to rise from this
year's US$80 billion to $100 billion in 2015 and to $200 billion in 2020 as
India looks towards Asean for closer economic cooperation.
Within the Asean-India FTA
framework, there is a combined market of almost 1.8 billion people, with
India's population totalling 1.2 billion and Asean's population around 600
million, as well as a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion.
"In the context of economic
globalisation and regional integration, we are committed to advancing economic
cooperation and engaging the emerging regional economic architecture, including
organising multi-sectoral strategic economic dialogues," the post-summit
statement read.
"We are committed to
promoting private sector engagement and encouraging business-to-business
relations, including through establishing a necessary framework to strengthen
private sector engagement and public-private partnership (PPP) linkages.
"Recognising the important
role of Small and Medium Enterprises [SMEs] in the region, we are also
committed to encouraging collaboration in the SME sector."
Asean and India are also
supporting sub-regional developments, including the Mekong-Ganga Coopera-tion
and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic
Coopera-tion frameworks.
Other frameworks supported
include the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asean Growth Area,
Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area, Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand
Growth Triangle, Greater Mekong Sub-Region and Asean Mekong Basin Development Cooperation.
Indian Foreign Minister Salman
Khurshid said in an interview that the latest summit represented a crucial
"take-off" point for connectivity between India and Asean countries.
He cited the three-nation highway
project linking India's northeast with Myanmar and Thailand as an example of
land-transport connectivity.
Additional sections of the
1,300-kilometre highway near India's border with Myanmar and the Myanmar border
with northern Thailand are under construction and will be joined with the existing
route in Myanmar, where road conditions will be improved.
The cross-border highway is
scheduled for opening in 2016.
The Indian foreign minister also
cited the potential linkages of India's Chennai seaport with other ports in
Asean countries, especially the planned Dawei port in Myanmar and Thailand's
Laem Chabang deep-sea port as another example of connectivity between India and
Asean countries.
From Thailand, the highways and
seaports could be further linked with those in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam,
whose ports are in the South China Sea.
Yingluck said the Thai government
would also support extending the trilateral highway to reach Laos and Cambodia.
At present, India and Thailand
have a limited FTA in goods covering 84 items. Bilateral trade is worth about
$9 billion per year.
The two countries are negotiating
a much more comprehensive economic cooperation agreement covering trade in
goods and services as well as investments to further upgrade economic ties.
Nophakhun
Limsamarnphun
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Health care and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN 's area. We are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, if any request, please, contact directly Dr Christian SIODMAK, business strategist, owner and CEO of SBC at christian.siodmak@gmail.com. Many thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment