ALL INDIA RADIO- 22nd NOVEMBER 2015

ARCHIVES

INDIA-ASEAN TRADE TIES

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ASEAN – 10 countries – Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. (You can remember like this: “CBI PLSM MTV” – CBI PLease Show Me MTV)

ASEAN + 3 – ASEAN + Japan + Korea + China

ASEAN + 6 – ASEAN + 3 + India + New Zealand + Australia

Recently two more countries have joined – US and Russia

ASEAN was established in 1967 to ensure economic development and growth of the member countries

There are other regional groupings in Asia, which seems to duplicate the objectives shared by the countries. For example, APEC, East Asia Summit, and ARF

Recently India has initiated a spate of economic reforms to attract foreign investment. For example, FDI caps in various sectors like Defence, Insurance have been raised. Similarly, reforms in land acquisition, double taxation avoidance agreements, black money act etc. have also been undertaken. There is a growing GDP and declining inflation in the country

India already has FTA with ASEAN. This is going to be extended to RCEP in the next year

There is a trade deficit for India in its trade with ASEAN member countries

“21^st century belongs to Asia”

Early in the 21^st century, nearly 40% of the global growth was led by East Asian countries. Now, the US-led TPP constitutes 60% of the world’s growth; TPP represents 40% of global GDP. Hence, if India is a part of any regional formation, then it will gain. India is expecting that its trade with ASEAN will increase to $200bn by 2022

The political aspects in the Asian region like, China’s maritime expansion and disputes with neighbouring countries in South China Sea may have little bearing on the economic performance of India. This is so because ASEAN focuses only on economic development and will not bring bilateral political disputes for discussion in the forum