New Delhi: India has asked the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to invest in the country, saying enhancing trade is a priority area for it.
Addressing the eighth Delhi Dialogue here on morning, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Anil Wadhwa said the government is taking steps to improve business environment, while liberalising the trade norms, including the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime.
Stressing on infrastructure development, he said New Delhi is fully in favour of boosting cross-border trade and new trade points would be established soon in some north eastern States, including Arunachal Pradesh.
Calling for a better connectivity between India and ASEAN, Wadhwa said the Motor Vehicle Agreement is on final stage among India, Myanmar and Thailand.
The completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is expected to expand trade and commerce opportunities. This will help in increasing connectivity for deeper integration with the ASEAN States. The highway is considered an important land route that connects India with Southeast Asia and beyond.
At the Delhi Dialogue, both sides will discuss how to utilise the 1 billion dollars announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost physical and digital connectivity between both sides during the India-ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur in November last year. Bilateral trade between India and ASEAN stood at 76.5 billion US dollars in 2014-15. This year the theme for the Delhi Dialogue is– ASEAN-India Relations: A New Paradigm. (ANI)
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