India seeks access to farm and services sectors in Japan

New Delhi, Aug 4 (UNI) Hoping that Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Japan and India will be clinched during bilateral talks here next month, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today sought access for Indian farm products and services in Japanese market.

During a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura, he said the September talks will lead to a comprehensive mutually advantageous agreement covering all issues of trade in goods, services, investment and other areas of economic engagement.

Observing that India and Japan do not have conflicting trade interests, he said India's exports basket mainly consists of primary products, while the Japanese exports are mostly of manufactured goods and electronic items. "India can be an efficient supplier of a number of items such as fruits and vegetables and marine products which Japan already imports in large quantity," he added.

While thanking the Japanese government for allowing market access for Indian mangoes, Mr Nath sought meaningful market access for Indian products in the Japanese market so that gains of elimination of tariffs under the CEPA are not nullified.

He also sought access to Japanese services sector, especially mode-1 (cross-border trade) and mode-4 (movement of natural persons). "Our areas of interest include professional and computer-related services, accounting, auditing, and book keeping services; architectural services; engineering services; medical and dental services; advertising services, and services for telecommunication and audio-visual communication", he added.

India-Japan trade reached 9.9 billion USD in 2007-08, up 25 per cent from the previous year. Indian imports from Japan mainly consist of machinery and electronic goods, while exports are mainly of gems and jewellery, petroleum products and iron ore.

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