India-Asean trade pact review committee to hold next meeting in July

The discussions for review of AITIGA, to make it more trade-facilitative and beneficial for businesses across the region, started in May 2023. The Joint Committee undertaking the review work has met four times so far. The upgradation of AITIGA will further boost bilateral trade.

India’s Ministry of Commerce

NEW DELHI: Senior officials from Southeast Asian nations and India will hold the next round of talks to review the AseanIndia Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) in July in Jakarta.

The fourth meeting of the joint committee reviewing the free trade pact concluded in Putrajaya, Malaysia on May 9, India’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Sunday.

The three-day meeting was cochaired by Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry deputy secretary general Mastura Ahmad Mustafa and Rajesh Agrawal, an additional secretary at India’s Ministry of Commerce.

“The discussions for review of AITIGA, to make it more trade facilitative and beneficial for businesses across the region, started in May 2023. The Joint Committee undertaking the review work has met four times so far.

“The upgradation of AITIGA will further boost bilateral trade,” it added.

The next meeting of the joint committee will take place from July 29 to 31 in Jakarta.

Eight sub-committees have been set up to deal with different policy areas of AITIGA in the review and five have started their discussions, the statement noted.

AITIGA was signed in 2009. Asean is one of the major trade partners of India with a share of 11 per cent in India’s global trade. The bilateral trade stood at US$122.67 billion in financial year 2023-2024. — Bernama