MW: Japan, India sign free-trade agreement: reports
By V. Phani Kumar
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japan and India on Wednesday signed an agreement to abolish tariffs on about 94% of the goods traded between the two countries within a decade, according to reports. The free-trade agreement was signed between Japan's Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in Tokyo. The Japanese government will submit the pact to its parliament for ratification to ensure its enforcement at an early date, according to a Kyodo report. Ninety percent of Japanese exports to India, including auto parts and machinery items, and 97% of imports from India, including farm and fishery products, will be covered under the agreement, the report said. Two-way trade between the two countries stood at 900 billion yen ($10.7 billion) in 2009, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
