After the negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement on goods between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (the India-Asean FTA) were successfully concluded on August 28, consumers now expect to enjoy a wide range of duty-free imports such as textiles, capital goods, plastics and electrical machinery, among many others, from India next year.
Mitsubishi Motors of Japan is looking forward to a free trade pact between India and the 10-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to start production in the country and make it an export hub, a top official has said.
For the first time in 60 years, 30 trucks rolled across the Line of Control in Kashmir on Tuesday, carrying mostly fruit and vegetables. It is a small beginning but a very significant one. More trucks will run regularly on routes between Srinagar and Muzafarrabad and between Poonch and Rawalakote.
India and Japan have made "substantative progress" in their negotiations on the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), says Prime Minister Taro Aso but the pact is unlikely to be signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Tokyo.
Can India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) together make more money than they can spend? This was the fervent of the South African High Commissioner Francis Moloi at the third IBSA Business Summit 2008 that recently took place in New Delhi. Considering the three countries lie in different continents, connectivity is a major issue. In fact, integrating the three economies may be the ideal way to combat the global downturn.
Developing countries have talked of the philosophy of South-south cooperation for development for a very long time. A number of initiatives was launched during the 1960s and 1970s. However, progress was modest because of lack of resources and institutional weaknesses in developing countries. With the emergence of countries like Brazil, India and South Africa in this millennium with considerable capabilities and collective development experiences that South-south cooperation has begun to be seen as a viable strategy.
India-Australia free trade agreement (FTA) offers India “another opportunity to move the economy into greater efficiency by narrowing trade barriers and increasing access by outsiders to Indian economy,” though this entails some initial adjustment costs.
Both India and Australia will have to make "adjustments" for reaching at a market-opening Free Trade Agreement, a senior Australian official said on Wednesday.