India’s trade with the 10-member Asean bloc is set to touch $100 billion by 2015 from around $80 billion at present, thanks to the benefits flowing from the free trade agreement signed with the region, said Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister for Commerce & Industry.

“In 2009, the FTA in goods had been signed and because of that trade between Asean and India has reached about $80 billion,” she said at the India-CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) business conclave organised by the Commerce Ministry and CII on Thursday. India’s trade with Asean was under $50 billion in 2008-09.

The Minister said that India’s trade with the CLMV countries was concentrated in only a few items and there was tremendous scope to deepen and widen the trade basket.

Skill development, agricultural products, manufacturing, project exports and energy were some of the areas where there was scope for more trade, Sitharaman said.

The Minister added that India’s ‘Look East’ policy had become very sharp focussed and was now actually an “Act East” policy.” “We are very keen to open up the north-east part of India, open up the economy, improve on its connectivity with the rest of the East and therefore look at India’s North-East as threshold to our ‘Act East’ policy,” she added.

Robust physical connectivity through road, rail and sea links will enable businesses on both sides to leverage the opportunities created by the India-Asean FTA in goods.

Referring to the FTA in services and investment that will come into force in July 1, 2015, Sitharaman said seamless connectivity will spur people-to-people contacts and tourism, create new enterprises and millions of jobs for people in the region.

This will be enhanced especially when the economic corridors along the India-CLMV road and rail lines will be fully developed, she added.

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