Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Press Statement on ASEAN-India free trade area

The Economic Ministers of ASEAN and India held an informal consultation on November 20, 2007 at the sidelines of the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore. They reviewed the progress of negotiations for the Trade in Goods Agreement of the AIFTA.

The Economic Ministers noted with satisfaction the progress made since the last meeting at Cebu. While the main elements of the modalities have been agreed upon, a few issues relating to preferential access for a few products remain. Both sides have agreed to settle these issues by March 2008 with a view to concluding the AIFTA Trade in Goods Agreements by the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat in May 2008.