NEW DELHI (BERNAMA) – India said yesterday the joint committee reviewing the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) has made “good progress”.
The 6th AITIGA Joint Committee meeting was co-chaired by Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry deputy secretary-general Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, alongside Rajesh Agrawal, an additional secretary at India’s Ministry of Commerce, in New Delhi recently.
The two sides are looking to upgrade the 14-year-old free trade pact to make it more effective for business and have eight sub-committees looking at different matters such as market access, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs procedures and trade remedies. “During this round of discussions, the Sub-Committees have made good progress in textual discussions and some ground has also been covered towards initiating tariff negotiations,” India’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
The representatives of all 10 ASEAN member countries participated in the New Delhi meeting, which followed the recent ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Meeting and the ASEAN-India Summit in Laos.
The next AITIGA joint committee meeting will be held in February in Jakarta.
“The review of AITIGA will be a step forward in enhancing trade with the ASEAN region in a sustainable manner,” the Indian statement stated.
India-ASEAN trade was USD121 billion during the April 2023-March 2024 period.
