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India anticipates conclusion on Asean trade pact review
India is actively engaged in reviewing its 2009 free trade deal with the Asean bloc, hoping to finish up before the big Asean-India Summit in October.
After nine rounds of talks focused on making trade smoother, just two more negotiation rounds are left—one in New Delhi this August and another in Malaysia in October.
Current pact uneven in terms of benefits
This review is all about fixing a pretty big trade gap: India exports about $39 billion to Asean each year but imports nearly $86 billion.
While India has dropped duties on most products (over 71%), some Asean countries like Indonesia have only offered breaks on around 41%.
The hope is that a refreshed agreement will make things fairer and boost economic ties for both sides.