The Hindu Business Line : Asean tariff cut plan may take effect from Jan

AS the negotiations to wrap up an early harvest programme (EHP) to agree for a swifter liberalisation of trade through tariff concessions between India and the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) remain incomplete, the EHP is likely to come into effect from January 2005 instead of from November 2004.

The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, who is currently in Jakarta, Indonesia indicated this while co-chairing the third Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) and India consultations on Sunday, an official release here said. ``I see the EHP not only as a confidence-building measure but also as a commercial instrument which will bestow upon us a substantial level of economic gain— a win-win situation for us all,'' Mr Nath noted.

EHP under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between India and the Asean consist of an agreed common list of items on which tariff concessions are to be exchanged on a fast-track basis and also other areas of economic cooperation. "The Working Group on Rules of Origin needs to do some more work and resolve outstanding issues. If we approach these matters with open minds and allow our negotiations the necessary flexibilities, there is no reason why these problems cannot be resolved," the Minister said.

The Asean Ministers at the meeting including the trade ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, besides the host Indonesia and the Secretary General of Asean extended a warm welcome to Mr Kamal Nath and used the opportunity to exchange views on multilateral and regional developments, particularly those that influenced Asean-India relations.

The Ministers noted that from 2001 to 2003, Asean-India bilateral trade grew at an annual rate of 11.22 per cent, i.e., from $9.88 billion in 2001 to $12.09 billion in 2003.

The Ministers agreed that there is still much potential for growth and that the establishment of the Asean-India Free Trade Area would provide the impetus to drive this growth further.

The Ministers announced the establishment of the Asean-India Business Council that would provide the private sector perspective and feedback on initiatives aimed at broadening and deepening economic linkages between Asean and India.

The Ministers urged the AIBC to organise its inaugural meeting as soon as possible and looked forward to the early start of its activities. They also hailed the convening of the Third Asean-India Business Summit, which is being organised on October 19-21 in New Delhi and Chennai.