Malaysia, India to sign FTA this year

Malaysia and India are expected to sign a free trade agreement during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to that country later this year.

Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said talks on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries would be concluded by August and will be signed during Singh's visit.

Singh is likely to visit Malaysia later this year. "We are on target. We hope by August we can do a definite conclusion to this and by the time Manmohan Singh visits Malaysia at end of this year, this will be in place," he told the Foreign Correspondents Association here.

He said the negotiations on the free trade agreement were progressing well. India signed its first CECA is with Singapore.

The Malaysian Minister was on a two-day business trip to Singapore to promote investments in Malaysia. He met Singapore-based businessmen and reached an agreement to revive the Malaysia-Singapore Business Council.