Officials from India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would resume their talks to widen of the scope of a Free Trade Agreement with the 10-nation trading bloc to cover services and investment.
The minister also exuded confidence that India would be able to sustain 20 per cent export growth in the current fiscal.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and the US Trade Representative Ron Kirk would sign the India-US Trade Policy Forum Framework for cooperation on trade and investment in Washington on March 17.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has warned countries trying to introduce protectionist measures that this would not only be counter-productive, but also deepen the recession and delay recovery.
India's exports slid for the 11th straight month in August by 19.7 per cent to $14.3 billion as global demand for merchandise remained sluggish.
Sharma was speaking to journalists while returning with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Cambodia last night on special aircraft after attending the ASEAN and East Asia Summits.
For the third month in a row, exports rose in January, reporting 11.5 per cent growth to $14.34 billion, against $12.9 billion in the year-ago period, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said.
The Commerce Ministry, according to an official, has proposed interest subsidy for different sectors like engineering which are reeling under the impact of global economic slowdown.
Talks for an India-European Union free trade agreement started in 2007 and the eighth round of negotiations was completed in New Delhi last month.
Saturday would mark the completion of a year of history being made in India-Pakistan trade relations.
Sports fraternity mourns former PM Vajpayee's demise
Exports are expected to grow by 10-15 per cent in the current fiscal, FIEO director general and chief executive officer Ajay Sahai said.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma has shrugged off the recent irritants that have cropped up less than six weeks before US President Barack Obama makes his visit to India as 'transient negativity', and predicted they would 'get dissipated' soon.
India and China took their economic relationship a step forward today, signing a memorandum of understanding on 'Expansion of Trade and Economic Cooperation' and recognising the need for "balanced trade".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will review the proposed bilateral trade and investment agreement between India and the EU at the meeting of the Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) on May 29.
All those in the Union council of ministers with two portfolios are likely to lose at least one and major administrative changes are expected in a Cabinet reshuffle due on October 28 or 29 on the return of President Pranab Mukherjee from Durga Puja celebrations in West Bengal.
Worried over continuous decline in exports, the Commerce Ministry has stepped up its pressure on Finance Ministry to expeditiously notify a scheme which was announced in June to boost the overseas shipments.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht concluded another round of talks on Monday at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, which the Commission said 'provided a renewed momentum to bring the negotiations forward'.
India clearly told the EU it would 'not accept' any further concession, as far as the automobile sector was concerned.
India's exports, after declining for over a year, are expected to improve in the coming months even as global slowdown continues, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Wednesday.
India and Indonesia today agreed to fast track the ongoing negotiations for early conclusion of the proposed comprehensive market opening pact, aimed at enhancing bilateral economic engagement between the countries.
The meeting, which would have representation from the ministries of finance, external affairs and micro and small and medium enterprises, would suggest steps to prepare the way for the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-2014), expected to be unveiled in April.
The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded 21.95 per cent, the lowest, till 1 pm, but polling was brisk as the sun came out.
A mild earthquake shook parts of Uttarakhand early on Wednesday. A slight intensity quake measuring 3.2 on the Richter Scale hit areas located along Uttarakhand-Nepal border in Pithoragarh district at around 10:00 AM this morning, MeT office Director Anand Sharma told PTI.
Reader Anand Sharma sends us his photograph with AR Rahman.
Shashi Tharoor has also been retained as the chairman of the panel on Information Technology.
Ten states and Union Territories had endorsed FDI in the sector by August 13.
Despite the robust growth in this country, Apple's India share in its overall global sales remained modest -- constituting 1.5 per cent of its overall turnover of $389 billion in FY23.
When IKEA's CEO & India's industry minister sealed a deal in-principle last year, foreign investors took note.
After Congress president Sonia Gandhi met leaders of the G-23 grouping to resolve internal party issues, former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday said "indulging the dissenters too much" will encourage more dissent.
"... An early conclusion of Doha Round is important; India is willing to take part in negotiations at the WTO provided the core concerns of the Round, namely development concerns of developing nations are addressed," commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma told Rajya Sabha.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
DEA official writes to DIPP suggesting that govt needs to understand what has been left out, and why, in the revised application of the retailer.
The minister, who was in Brussels on a two-day visit, said that seven Chief Minsters including Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Assam, Rajasthan and Kerala have already given their written commitment on allowing FDI in the sector.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has written to chief ministers of Odisha, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, stating opening the multi-brand sector to the foreign direct investment would 'bring in investments, technologies and efficiencies to unlock the true potential of the agricultural value chain'.
The group is also reported to be seeking the ouster of some Rahul Gandhi loyalists from key AICC positions and top on their target are AICC general secretary Organisation K C Venugopal, chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and general secretary Ajay Maken.
The minister addressed the Global India Business Meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the German city. CEOs of leading firms from India, Germany, the US and Saudi Arabia, including Siemens, Volkswagen, AirAsia, Bajaj Auto, Genpact India and Infosys attended the conclave.
The Himachal Congress on Wednesday said party chief Sonia Gandhi will only decide the name of the chief ministerial candidate.
