Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

29-August-2012 18:25 IST

Anand Sharma Arrives in Siem Reap for Asean Meet

Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles arrived at Siem Reap, Cambodia today to attend meetings with Ministers from ASEAN, Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Partners and Dialogue Partners.

In the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) - India Consultations, progress on agreement on trade in services and investment with ASEAN will be reviewed.

ASEAN plus FTA Partners Consultations will be attended by the ten ASEAN countries and six FTA partners, namely China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Discussions will be held on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

ASEAN countries along with FTA Partners, USA and Russia will participate in the 1st East Asia Summit (EAS) Economic Ministers’ Meeting. This meeting will discuss issues of regional and global development with special emphasis on economic development in the region.

In addition, the Minister will also have bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the EAS member countries on the sidelines during this three day visit to Siem Reap. In this regard he met Mr. Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, and discussed various bilateral and multilateral initiatives.

The Minister took out time to inspect the work being done by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Ta Prohm temple.

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DS

Trade in services and investment reviewed at ASEAN consultations, with RCEP and East Asia Summit economic discussions and bilateral talks. Anand Sharma participated in ASEAN Economic Ministers-India consultations to review progress on agreements concerning trade in services and investment, joined ASEAN plus FTA Partners dialogues on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, took part in East Asia Summit economic discussions on regional development, and conducted bilateral meetings and an inspection of Archaeological Survey of India activity at Ta Prohm.