Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa (Source :aseminfoboard)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Trade between ASEAN member countries and India surpassed 76.5 billion USD in 2014-2015, according to Malaysia’s Bernama News Agency.
At the eighth edition of the Delhi Dialogue, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa said that among ASEAN countries, Indonesia is the country’s largest trading partner in ASEAN, with bilateral trade reaching over 19 billion USD in the period, followed by Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
He said that with the official formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in late 2015, the bloc is forging ahead as a community by deepening its economic integration among member countries.
AEC is the third largest economy in Asia and the seventh in the world. The community is expected to open up opportunities and create conditions for Indian enterprises to run more businesses in Southeast Asia.
The secretary said a significant achievement has been the completion of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area, which came into effect July 1, 2015.
So far India, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand have ratified the agreement.-VNA
