Asean FTA to open new vistas for India Inc

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New Delhi, Aug 29 : a year, that is not much of a difference,” the minister said.

According to the FTA, by 2018, India’s duties on refined palm oil will come down from 90% to 45%, while duties on crude palm oil will be cut from 80% to 37.5%. Also, by 2018, duty on pepper will come down from 70% to 50%, while duties on black tea and coffee will come down from 100% to 45%.

The majority of trade will be liberalized by 2012. By 2015, India will reduce duties to 5% in 585 tariff lines.

Nath said it is extremely important for India to engage in regional economic cooperation with the Asean countries, as Japan and China are already engaging with them. “India cannot isolate itself from regional trade cooperation. The FTA with Asean should be seen in this context.”

He also pointed out that when Japan mooted the idea of a larger East Asia Economic Area three years ago, India was the first country that supported it. Nath said East Asia is a very globally competitive trading bloc and has large markets with huge populations in Indonesia, Vietnam, China and India.