India and ASEAN are expected to sign the long-delayed free trade agreement (FTA) in services and investments at the Economic Trade Ministers of India and ASEAN meeting on 25 August 2014. Rajrishi Singhal, senior geoeconomics fellow at Gateway House, comments on the signing of the FTA and the economic benefits for India.
Statement:
“India signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in goods with ASEAN in 2009 which led to an increase in bilateral trade, $145.678 billion during 2012-13. However, India’s services exports contributed to only 32.64% of the total export revenue from ASEAN. The services sector is India’s economic strength – over 50% of the country’s GDP comes from this sector. The India-ASEAN services and investment FTA will be an advantageous boost in trade relations.
The India-ASEAN FTA in services and investment will allow India to leverage its competitive offerings in finance, education, healthcare, information technology, telecommunications, transport and the movement of professionals.
However, the signing of the FTA has proved to be very elusive and it is still not clear if the deal is final- some ASEAN members still have reservations and are yet to individually ratify the deal.”
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India-ASEAN: What can they expect from each other
India-ASEAN’s elusive services FTA
For more information or interview requests, please contact Reetika Joshi at joshi.reetika@gatewayhouse.in.