By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, SEP 19, 2024: UNION Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal is visiting Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) on 20-21 September 2024 to participate in the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers (AEM-India) meeting and the 12th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM). These annual meetings of ASEAN with their dialogue partners are being hosted this year by Lao PDR, the ASEAN Chair for 2024.

EAS EMM witnesses participation by Economic Ministers of 10 ASEAN countries and 8 other EAS partners viz. India, USA, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

In the AEM-India meeting, the Ministers will review the progress in negotiations for review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). The review of AITIGA is high on our priority to make it more user friendly, simple and trade facilitative for businesses. In EAS EMM, the Ministers will deliberate on regional and global economic developments. India is the founding member of East Asia Summit Forum which is completing its two decades next year.

Minister Goyal will have a number of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from participating countries on the sidelines of two institutional meetings. Meetings have been scheduled with the Minister of host country Lao PDR and visiting Ministers from Korea, Malaysia, Switzerland and Myanmar. Minister will also meet ASEAN Secretary General and President of ERIA, a premier research institute for Asia and Pacific. Minister will also have an interaction with the Indian diaspora in Lao PDR and will also meet a visiting industry delegation from India as well as ASEAN.

India joined ASEAN in 1992 and became its Comprehensive Strategic Partner in 2022. ASEAN is at the heart of India's Act East Policy, announced by Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. ASEAN is one of India's most important trading partners. For the last two consecutive years, ASEAN has been India's second largest trading partner.