India and Malaysia have agreed to take steps to speed up the review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) for its conclusion by the end of 2025, according to an official statement.
Malaysia is one of the key members of the 10-member Asean and chair of the group for this year. The decision to speed up the review came at a bilateral meeting between minister of state for commerce Jitin Prasada and Malaysian deputy minister for investment, trade, and industry Liew Chin Tong.
The review is being spearheaded by a joint committee, which has further set up eight sub-committees to deal with specific areas. So far seven meetings of the joint committee have been held and the eighth is scheduled for April 9-11 in New Delhi.
The AITIGA came into force in 2010 and the review of the agreement was agreed to in 2019 following India’s demand after imports from Asean surged and trade balance moved heavily in favour of the 10-member grouping.
Both sides also discussed bilateral trade issues, including those related to market access and collaboration in the semiconductor sector. Malaysia is India’s third-largest trading partner in Asean with total trade of $20.02 billion during 2023-24. Malaysia accounted for around 17 % of India’s total trade with the grouping in 2023-24.