Malaysia and India signed a free trade agreement on Friday to help strengthen economic ties and double bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2015. The pact, which follows India's signing of a similar agreement with Japan two days earlier, covers trade in goods and services, investment and economic co-operation. "This will usher in a new era of much deeper economic integration," said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement will also subject more products to tariff concessions, over and above the existing ASEAN-India trade agreement for goods. ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, which comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
"This is a major step both the countries have taken towards building a partnership for the future, which will have a defining influence in this region and help towards the larger economic integration of Asia," Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said. Malaysia is India's 19th largest trade partner, while India is Malaysia's 13th largest trading partner, with total trade valued at almost $9 billion in 2011.
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