India will sign a free trade deal with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as expected in December after around four years of talks, an Indian minister said on Monday. India said last year it wanted to lift two-way trade with Asean to $50 billion by 2010, up from $38.4 billion in the 2007/08 fiscal year.
"The formal signing of the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement will be around December 18," Junior Trade Minister Jairam Ramesh told a business conference. Negotiations began in 2004, and have resulted in a deal under which import tariffs will be reduced or eliminated on 96 percent of items traded between the two from January 1, 2009.