India promises to lower trade barriers

BANGKOK, Aug 4 (TNA) -- Thailand and India jointly organized the ASEAN-India Expo and Forum between August 2-5 to boost economic growth while India promised to reduce its trade barriers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thai Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the forum would lead to the expansion of trade, investment and tourism. Last year the value of trade between Thailand and India amounted to US$7.7 billion and that between ASEAN and India exceeded US$600 billion. Ms Apiradi believed that the trade could expand considerably because India was greatly reducing trade barriers. Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, said India was ready to review trade barriers between it and ASEAN and trade promotions could happen in the forms of exempted or reduced tariffs and streamlined procedures on customs, the rules of origins and product inspection. The Indian minister said that an ASEAN-Indian free trade agreement could be sealed to cover liberalization on trade in products and services and investment. She expected India to become a trade center for ASEAN, especially for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. She said India was adjusting itself to become a center of production and transparent businesses and it was applying information technology to facilitate trade with ASEAN. Last year India was the 15th biggest trading partner of Thailand in the global market and the biggest one in Asia. (TNA)