INDIA and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) have made some headway towards finalising the much-awaited pact on trade in services and investment during the last round of negotiations that took place here recently.
Despite the recent development, India’s hopes of getting more market access for its professionals in the countries of the 10-member trading bloc seems nowhere near fruition.
The two sides have a goods pact in place, which came into effect from January 2010, providing for tariff-free access to a range of product lines like textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering products, processed food and auto parts.
The deal in services trade and investment has been in operation since its formal inception in October 2009. Under this pact, India has mainly pressed for greater job opportunities for its professionals in the Asean markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Myanmar.
Expressing hope of being able to finalise the talks by early 2012, a senior Commerce Department official, who is involved in the talks, however, maintained that getting more under Mode 4 was ruled out even though the government is hopeful of getting more under Mode 3 and Mode 1.
Trade in services, as per trade phraseology, is divided into four broad categories. While Mode 1 alludes to cross-border supply of services through electronic means, Mode 2 refers to a situation where the consumer of a service moves into another partner country. Mode 3 implies that a particular service provider has established presence in the form of a joint venture in another country, while Mode 4 denotes the movement of professionals, including doctors, accountants and engineers, to other countries to provide services.
Source : Exim News Service - NEW DELHI, Nov. 3