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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct. 22

India is hopeful of striking a deal with Asean on a free trade agreement (FTA) by next month, according to the Commerce Secretary, Mr G.K. Pillai.

“The differences have been more or less sorted out. The main differences are only on four items — palm oil, tea, coffee and pepper. We have put our best offers on the table. They say our concessions are inadequate.

“Asean Summit will be held in Singapore next month. We will make last effort to make a deal,” Mr Pillai told newspersons on the sidelines of a CII event here today.

He also indicated at the meeting that the trilateral FTA between India, Brazil and South Africa could become a reality by end-2009.

Meanwhile, a commerce ministry official said that the Ministry is likely to approach the Cabinet this week for its nod to replace the duty entitlement passbook (DEPB) scheme with an alternative scheme.

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