India and the 10-nation ASEAN on Friday decided to ink a free trade agreement in services and investments in December in Bali with a view to strengthen economic engagement between the regions.
"... The Agreements (ASEAN-India Trade-in-Services Agreement and ASEAN-India Investment Agreement) would be signed on the sidelines of the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Bali from 3-6 December 2013," a joint statement issued by India and Indonesia said. The agreement will boost movement of Indian professionals in the ASEAN region which include countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It will also facilitate investments.
After operationalising a free trade pact in goods in 2011, both the sides were engaged in widening the base of the pact by including services and investments. Trade between India the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) stands at about $76 billion in 2012-13. Both the sides have aimed at increasing it to $ 100 billion by 2015. The other ASEAN are Brunei, laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The statement was issued after a meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is on an official visit here. Further, it said that the leaders expressed satisfaction at the growing trade and investment ties between India and Indonesia and expressed confidence in achieving the bilateral trade target of $ 25 billion by 2015. In 2012-13, the bilateral trade stood at $ 20.2 billion.
The leaders also directed an early launch of negotiations on an India-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that would build upon the ASEAN-India FTA by bringing more depth and coverage. The leaders expressed desire for early convening of the2nd meeting of Biennial Trade Ministers’ Forum and the inaugural meeting of the Energy Forum. "These forums should foster continuous dialogue on economic policies with an aim to remove impediments to trade and investment," it said.
Both the sides urged the CEOs’ Forum to hold regular dialogue and provide constructive advice on measures to further enhance bilateral trade and investment relations. "The leaders agreed to establish a High-level Task Force to effectively monitor implementation of Business-to-Business MoUs; facilitate investment in each other’s national infrastructure development plans and identify specific projects for joint investment in India, Indonesia or third countries," it added.
The leaders of both the sides urged the concerned ministries to expedite negotiations of the MoU on cooperation in roads, highways and transport sector to provide an enabling framework for investment, the joint statement said. "The leaders also stressed that bilateral cooperation on standards and conformance is important to facilitate trade between the two countries.