Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, will co-chair the Third ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-India Consultations scheduled to be held on 5th September, 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Consultations will be co-chaired by the Minister of Industry and Trade of Indonesian Ms. Rini M. S. Soewandi, from the Indonesian side.
During the meeting, the ASEAN Economic Ministers and the Minister of India will take note of the progress in the negotiations for ASEAN-India Free Trade Area (FTA) as per the provisions of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation which was signed on 8th October, 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. The Ministers are expected to note the discussions held so far in the meetings of the ASEAN-India Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) which has been set up for the purpose of conducting the negotiations on ASEAN-India FTA. They are also likely to discuss the areas of economic cooperation which could be prioritised for implementation between ASEAN and India. The Ministers on both sides are expected to announce the establishment of ASEAN-India Business Council for private sector cooperation, during the consultations.
(Release ID :3674)