PM-SERVICES TWO

(REOPENS TAR109)
Under the India-ASEAN free trade pact, the two regions
would reduce duties on about 4,000 products being traded
between them, in a phased manner. The pact would become
operational from January 2010.

Addressing the Summit, the Prime Minister also proposed
to set up an India-ASEAN roundtable comprising think tanks,
policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives to
bridge the knowledge gap.
"The Roundtable would provide policy inputs to the
governments of India and the ASEAN countries on future areas
of cooperation," Singh said.
He also proposed to hold the ASEAN Trade and Industrial
Exhibition in India in October 2010 and January 2011.
To meet the challenges of food security, Singh asked for
enhanced cooperation in the agriculture sector. He said the
forthcoming meeting of agriculture ministers from India and
ASEAN countries in 2010 in India "should identify specific
areas of cooperation".
He also said India is ready to involve itself more in
Entrepreneurship Development Centres and Centres for English
Language Learning which are currently functional in countries
like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Singh said India would be privileged to host the
India-ASEAN summit in 2012.
"To ensure a substantive outcome, I would propose to set
up a Joint Task Force to prepare a vision statement for
India-ASEAN relations up to 2020," Singh said. (MORE) PTI PC
ANU


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