Negotiations on to iron out issues for India-ASEAN FTA

With barely 48 hours left for India-ASEAN summit, intense negotiations are on to iron out issues pertaining to finalisation of trade pact, with officials here maintaining that some of the differences have been "narrowed". "There have been negotiations which are fairly intensive and these have in a manner narrowed some of our differences and we will wait and see if at all differences have narrowed in another 48 hours," official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said.
   
After operationalising free trade agreement in goods in August last year, India and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have engaged in widening the base of the pact by including services and investments.
   
However, the talks were getting delayed due to differences in opening the services sector. The Philippines, a strong player in the global outsourcing, has some issues in liberalising the services sector.
   
According to a report, the service sector contributes more than half of the Philippines' economic output. The Philippines' BPO industry accounts for about 15 per cent of the global outsourcing market and has been the fastest-growing segment of the country's economy.
    
Out of the total 35.06 million work force in Philippines, 51 per cent are engaged in services sector. In a way, it is a strong competitor for India in the global BPO market.
    
A Ficci-Deloitte study had said that once the agreement comes into effect, Indian entrepreneurs would get considerable opportunities in services like telecommunications, radio, television, consultancy, architectural, legal, accounting, education, health and social work.
    
The ASEAN countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Currently, India-ASEAN trade stands at USD 80 billion, which is expected to touch USD 100 billion by 2015.