Industry & Economy
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Foreign Trade
`India must broaden trade ties with Asean nations'
Our Bureau
New Delhi
,
Nov. 24
THE Secretary-General of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), Mr Ong Keng-Yong, has suggested that India should broaden its economic relations with the 10-member regional organisation, especially when close to 98 per cent of its trade currently is with just five nations.
Addressing the India Economic Summit 2003 on `India and Asean: A win-win situation,' here on Monday, Mr Ong called on India to focus more on trade and less on selling its products to the member-states so as to create a win-win situation for both sides.
Besides, Mr Ong called on both India and the Asean member-states to work together on the international stage. "India and Asean need to look beyond contentious issues and see how they can work together in forums like the World Intellectual Property Organisation. However, we need to be careful that it does not look like we have ganged up," Mr Ong said.
The India Economic Summit has been jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.
Mr Ong said that there was also great potential for cooperation in diverse areas, including tourism, oil and gas as also the pharmaceutical sector. He felt that if the right steps were taken, India could easily double its trade volumes with the Asean region in a short time.
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