India, ASEAN FTA to be announced by November: Pillai

New Delhi, Aug 28 (UNI) The Government today said the free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be announced by November-end this year.

''The negotiations on FTA with ASEAN, we hope, is to be concluded by the end of next month and the announcement is likely during ASEAN summit in Singapore in November,'' Commerce Secretary Gopal K Pillai said here.

He further added that negotiations on the proposed Asean FTA were at an advanced stage.

Leading the Indian side in the talks with senior officials from the ASEAN countries in Manila earlier this week, Mr Pillai had said the agreement was almost 98 per cent settled.

The deal is in respect of goods, as different from services or investments.

Asked whether the ASEAN still made an issue of the Indian tariff line for palm oil as also petroleum and related products, Mr Pillai had said it would not be appropriate to go into specifics at this sensitive stage.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The exports to ASEAN is expected to reach 22 billion dollars by 2012 after the agreement is signed.

In 2005, two-way trade between India and ASEAN was 23 billion dollars, with Indian exports at eight billion dollars.

UNI