New Delhi [India], September 20 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, will participate in the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers (AEM-India) meeting and the 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
The union minister will be in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos), on 20-21 September 2024.
In the AEM-India meeting, the Ministers will review the progress in negotiations for the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).
The review of AITIGA is high on our priority to make it more user-friendly, simple, and trade facilitative for businesses. In EAS EMM, the Ministers will deliberate on regional and global economic developments. India is the founding member of East Asia Summit Forum, which is completing its two decades next year.
Goyal will have a number of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from participating countries on the sidelines of two institutional meetings. Meetings have been scheduled with the Minister of the host country, Lao PDR and visiting Ministers from Korea, Malaysia, Switzerland, and Myanmar.
Goyal will also meet the ASEAN Secretary General and President of ERIA, a premier research institute for Asia and the Pacific.
The minister will also have an interaction with the Indian diaspora in Lao PDR and will also meet a visiting industry delegation from India as well as ASEAN.
India joined ASEAN in 1992 and became its Comprehensive Strategic Partner in 2022.
ASEAN is one of India's most important trading partners. For the last two consecutive years, ASEAN has been India's second-largest trading partner.
EAS EMM witnesses' participation by Economic Ministers of 10 ASEAN countries and 8 other EAS partners viz. India, USA, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
India became ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1996. At the 2nd ASEAN-India Summit in 2003, the Leaders signed the ASEAN-India Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation. The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) entered into force on 1 January 2010.
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