Indian official invites Philippine investments into India 

By Rachelle M. Nessia 

NEW DELHI, Feb. 15 (PIA) -- The government of India invited Filipino investors to invest in India in a bid to forge closer relations between India and the Philippines. 

Dr. Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission, said that they are inviting Philippine investments into India, particularly in the food processing sector. 

“You have a lot of technology in things like food processing so we are attracting you to come here because it’s a huge market here,” said Ahluwalia in a meeting with 20 visiting journalists from member-nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Feb. 14, 2012. 

Although the deputy chairman said he is in favor of more robust relations between India and the Philippines, he admitted that there is currently a lack of trade relations between Philippines and India. 

“But most of this has to do with distance,” he said. 

He explained that there are more activities with the other ASEAN countries compared to the Philippines due to their proximity to India. 

“Malaysia is next door as well as Indonesia. But the Philippines is a little farther away,” he said. 

Philippines was one of the ASEAN member-nations that signed the Trade in Goods Agreement under the broader framework of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and the ASEAN. 

CECA was signed in 2003 after India became a full dialogue partner of ASEAN at the 5th ASEAN Summit in 1995, a move that aimed at providing institutional framework for operationalizing economic cooperation. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)