PM wants CECA talks with ASEAN speeded up. Calls for greater economic integration with neighbours in South Asia.

Government will facilitate capacity building in policy making and strengthen competitiveness of domestic industry.

The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) being signed today by the Prime Ministers of India and Singapore in New Delhi will take India another step closer to a CECA with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh has asked the Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) to come forward with proposals to enable forward movement on negotiations for an India- ASEAN CECA. Noting the fact that over the past decade successive Governments have reiterated their commitment to bring India's tariffs in line with ASEAN rates, the Prime Minister said that while this would benefit all of India's trade partners it is necessary to place trade and investment liberalization with respect to India's neighbours and ASEAN countries on a "faster track".

Dr. Manmohan Singh told the TERC, "we must enlarge our economic interaction and integration with SAARC, BIMSTEC and ASEAN, and find creative solutions to overcome existing hurdles. We must become a partner in the economic progress of our neighbours."

The PM also asked the ministries of finance, commerce and external affairs to strengthen research and policy making capabilities in the area of external trade and economic relations both within Government and outside. The TERC was also asked to produce an annual review of India's external economic relations. The Investment Commission and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Commission have been asked to take into account the concerns of domestic industry and come forward with ideas to facilitate the transition to a more open economy, more closely engaged with all our neighbours in South and South-east Asia.