The opportunities and challenges posed by the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIG) topped the agenda of a seminar held in Hanoi on January 12.
Co-organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Indian Embassy in Vietnam , the seminar aimed to help companies from both countries get a better insight into the agreement and examine the demands in each other’s markets.
Ly Quoc Hung, Director of the MoIT’s African, Western and South Asian Markets Department, said that Vietnamese and Indian companies need to work out their own business policies and strategies to make the best of the chances and advantages brought about by the AITIG.
The official said that both nations have a lot of potential for working together more comprehensively and that Vietnam expects Indian businesses to increase the flow of investment in oil and gas exploration and production, the petro-chemicals industry, mineral processing, IT and animal feed.
Under the terms of the AITIG, which came into effect on January 1, 2010, the tariffs on a number of goods will be slashed to zero percent from 2013-2016.
As many as 5,000 industrial and agricultural products, or 80 percent of the total number of commodities traded between the two sides, will be exempted from import duties during the period.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is India’s fourth largest trade partner after the European Union, the US and China. ASEAN-India bilateral trade reached 47 billion USD in 2008. The figure for 2009 is estimated at around 60 billion USD and expected to hit 70 billion USD this year./.
Co-organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Indian Embassy in Vietnam , the seminar aimed to help companies from both countries get a better insight into the agreement and examine the demands in each other’s markets.
Ly Quoc Hung, Director of the MoIT’s African, Western and South Asian Markets Department, said that Vietnamese and Indian companies need to work out their own business policies and strategies to make the best of the chances and advantages brought about by the AITIG.
The official said that both nations have a lot of potential for working together more comprehensively and that Vietnam expects Indian businesses to increase the flow of investment in oil and gas exploration and production, the petro-chemicals industry, mineral processing, IT and animal feed.
Under the terms of the AITIG, which came into effect on January 1, 2010, the tariffs on a number of goods will be slashed to zero percent from 2013-2016.
As many as 5,000 industrial and agricultural products, or 80 percent of the total number of commodities traded between the two sides, will be exempted from import duties during the period.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is India’s fourth largest trade partner after the European Union, the US and China. ASEAN-India bilateral trade reached 47 billion USD in 2008. The figure for 2009 is estimated at around 60 billion USD and expected to hit 70 billion USD this year./.
