BANGKOK: India is being urged to speed up comprehensive free-trade talks with Thailand, with little progress having been made on a long-awaited pact. After meeting the Indian ambassador to Thailand, Bhagwant Singh Bishnoi, yesterday, Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the Thai side first wanted to settle key details of the pact, leaving minor contentious issues for later discussion.
Thailand and India signed a framework agreement covering the liberalisation of trade in goods, services and investment on Oct 9, 2003. It was agreed that Thailand and India would begin talks and establish a Thai-Indian free trade agreement (FTA) by 2010. Both countries initially agreed to enact an early harvest scheme (EHS), meaning agreements on one or more topics must be concluded before the scheduled completion of a multi-issue round.
The agreement specified tariff reductions under the EHS for 82 items, including fruits, processed food products, gems and jewellery, iron and steel products, auto parts, electronic goods and electric appliances. Tariffs on these products were eliminated on Sept 1, 2006.
