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"In 2005-06, the total trade between India and Asean was $21.29 billion. This grew up to $79.21 billion in 2011-12, with a compounded annual growth rate of 20.64 per cent," said Avinash P Joshi, director with the ministry, while delivering his keynote address in an outreach session on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), organised by the ministry along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The ten Asean nations are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. During the period between April and December, in the ongoing financial year, 2012-13, India's exports to Asean were worth $22.49 billion, while imports were worth $32.57 billion.
Among Asean nations, the highest value of trade happened between India and four countries - Singapore (total trade of $15.22 billion), Indonesia (total trade of $ 14.66 billion), Malaysia (total trade of $10.69 billion) and Thailand (total trade of $6.66 billion) - in the first nine months of the current financial year.
Speaking about the segment-wise exports from India to Asean, Joshi said groundnut and marine products had posted a growth of 141.39 and 148.67 per cent, respectively, during the financial year 2011-12, according to projected estimates.
Groundnut posted exports of $876.85 million while marine products registered exports of $783.53 million. Exports of electronic goods marked a growth of 5.21 per cent during the period at $911.41 million while drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals posted growth of 23.65 per cent at $857.2 million in 2011-12 according to the ministry's estimates.
The exports of top 10 items to Asean witnessed a decrease of 21.25 per cent in the nine months ended December 2012 compared to the same period of previous year, he added. The marine products posted a decrease of 12.85 per cent in growth at $569.6 million, while transport equipments posted drop of 50.62 per cent in exports at $2.45 billion and petroleum (crude and products) a decrease of 25.12 per cent at $6.53 billion during April to December 2012.
On imports from Asean to India, gold has been a concern for the ministry during April to December, 2012, Joshi added. "Gold imports has grown almost 77 per cent with $937.27 million during the first nine months of the current financial year," he said. The imports of top 10 items from Asean to India posted a growth of 4.36 per cent at $25.9 billion in the nine months.
"Besides," Joshi said, "The Government of India and Asean have concluded negotiations on Agreement on Trade in Services and Investment, which would make the Free Trade Agreement a comprehensive one with all the Asean countries."
The Agreement, which would open up a huge opportunity in the services and investment relations between the countries, would be signed in August 2013, he said.
Further, he added that the FTA with the Asean would be a comprehensive one with the signing of agreement for investment and services, which would open up more opportunities for Indian companies to explore the markets in these countries. The terms for the agreement have been concluded and the parties are expected to sign the agreement in August, 2013.
Addressing the industry, Amrit Raj, director, Ministry of Commerce and Industry with the Government of India said that the industry players in India should come out to communicate their individual requirements and sugestions about free trade pacts, since the government could not look at the situation at a micro level and find out the requirements of smaller companies.
