India-ASEAN business summit to explore trade, investment

Wednesday, 02 October 2002, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: The first India-ASEAN Business Summit to be held this month will mull synergy in trade and investment in the region, the organizers said Tuesday. The summit, to be held in New Delhi and Hyderabad on October 17 and 18, is being jointly organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and the ministries of external affairs and commerce. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will inaugurate the two-day summit in the national capital. Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Mahatir will participate in the business summit. "The summit would be an important step in the evolution of Indo-ASEAN relationship," Rajiv Sikri, additional secretary in the ministry of external affairs, said at a press conference here. Sikri said that summit-level interaction between India and ASEAN has assumed importance as a result of growing mutual interest on part of the political and industry leaders in the region. "The India-ASEAN Business Summit has to be viewed within the framework and backdrop of the steadily growing India-ASEAN relationship," he said, adding India-ASEAN relations have traversed a long course in the last few years. While there are many aspects to the India-ASEAN relationship, economic and trade linkages between India and ASEAN form the core of the relationship. Analysts say while ASEAN investments could add further impetus to India's economic reforms, India can extend its expertise in areas such as scientific and technological research to ASEAN. "The business summit reflects the high priority that India attaches to the expansion and deepening of trade and investment linkages with ASEAN," said Vinay Bansal, additional secretary in the ministry of commerce and industry. The summit is also expected to provide economic inputs for the forthcoming first ASEAN-India summit scheduled in Cambodia in November this year, Bansal added.
Source: IANS
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