New Delhi, Nov 23  : India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have signed a trade in goods Agreement in August, which is envisaged to come into force with effect from January 2010.

Union Minister of State for Trade and Commerce, Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha about this on Monday.

In a written reply Scindia said : “During the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, domestic consultations were held through various rounds of inter-ministerial meetings and stakeholder dialogues.”

“The Agreement will lead to growth in bilateral trade and investment resulting in economic welfare gains to India. Indian exporters of machinery and machine parts, steel & steel products, oilcake, wheat, buffalo meat, automobiles and auto components, chemicals, synthetic textiles, etc. would gain additional market access into the ASEAN countries,” he added.

Indian manufacturers would be able to source intermediate products at competitive prices from the ASEAN markets for further reprocessing and export, Scindia said. (ANI)