Govt to sign comprehensive trade pacts with Japan, Malaysia

The Government of India is all set to sign comprehensive trade agreements with Japan, Malaysia and the entire ASEAN bloc in the next 2-3 months. Comprehensive pacts for elimination of duties and removal of obstacles will be signed with Japan and Malaysia in February, the Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, said. "We have concluded negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan as well as a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Malaysia. We will be signing them in the next few weeks, definitely in February," Sharma said. Besides, over and above an existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 10-member ASEAN, a fresh pact for opening trade in services is expected to be finalised by March. Trade FTA with ASEAN was operationalised from January 2010. The agreement with Malaysia would be ‘ASEAN plus’, as it is one of the 10 members of the trading bloc. The bilateral trade in goods and services with Malaysia would be more open than the bloc as a whole. A bilateral pact with Indonesia would also be initiated. According to reports, Sharma is expected to visit Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur by mid-February for signing CEPA and CECA.