ASEAN-India trade talks in Jakarta pave way for closer ties

New Delhi: Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Saturday said that the 5th meeting of the joint committee for the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) was held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

“It marks a significant milestone in enhancing economic cooperation between ASEAN and India,” the ministry said.

It said that the Indian delegation also held bilateral meetings with counterparts from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam on the sidelines of 5th AITIGA meeting to develop a common understanding of the issues being discussed in the AITIGA review.

“Separate meetings were also held with ASEAN Secretary General Dr. Kao Kim Hourn as well as ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Satvinder Singh to discuss the possibilities in enhancing economic cooperation between India and ASEAN through a review of AITIGA,” the ministry added.

It said that the AITIGA Joint Committee had initiated discussions for review of AITIGA in May 2023 and after finalising its Terms of Reference and Negotiating Structure, AITIGA JC and its Sub-Committees started negotiations in February 2024.

“The first two rounds of negotiations were held in February 2024 in New Delhi and in May 2024 in Putrajaya, Malaysia,” the ministry said.

During the 3rd round of negotiations in Jakarta, Indonesia, all eight Sub-Committees dealing with ‘National Treatment and Market Access’, ‘Rules of Origin’, ‘Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures’, ‘Sanitary and Phytosanitary’, ‘Legal and Institutional Issues’, ‘Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation’, ‘Trade Remedies’ and ‘Economic and Technical Cooperation’ met alongside 5th AITIGA JC and held substantive discussions making significant progress during this round, the ministry said.

It added that all the Sub-Committees reported the outcomes of their discussions to the 5th AITIGA JC which provided further guidance to steer their future work.

“ASEAN is an important trade partner of India with about 11 per cent share in India’s global trade. The review of AITIGA, signed in 2009, will help create further opportunities for businesses on both sides to enhance the level of India-ASEAN trade. The next meeting of the AITIGA Joint Committee will be held in India from 19-22 November 2024,” the ministry said.

The meeting was held between July 29 to August 1 which was co-chaired by Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, India and Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, Deputy Secretary General (Trade), Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry, Malaysia.

“Delegates from all 10 ASEAN Countries and India participated in the meeting,” the ministry said.