During his visit to Laos, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will discuss the status of negotiations for the review of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in goods, according to a statement released on Friday by the ministry. Goyal’s two-day visit to Vientiane, Laos, began on Friday. He is in attendance to take part in the 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM) and the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM-India).
Laos, the ASEAN Chair for this year, is hosting the annual meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) alongside their conversation partners.
It stated that improving the review is a top goal for India in order to make it easier to use, more straightforward, and more business-friendly.
On the fringes of two institutional sessions, Goyal will hold many bilateral meetings with his colleagues from participating nations, it was further stated. Meetings with visiting ministers from Korea, Malaysia, Switzerland, and Myanmar as well as the minister of the host nation, Laos, are planned.
November will mark the second round of negotiations for the current review meeting of the free trade agreement in goods between India and ASEAN. The third round of negotiations came to an end in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 1. The goal for both parties is to wrap up the review by 2025. Indian businesses had long demanded that the AITIGA be reviewed. In order to remove obstacles and abuse the trade agreement, India is requesting a review of the deal.
