Times of Oman

Chile, India to hold free trade talks: official

15 August 2012

AFP. Chile and India will begin negotiations on a free trade agreement at the end of the year, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno in a television interview Tuesday.

The agreement will "include not only goods, but also services, investment and all the control elements, such as tariff barriers," Moreno said on CNN Chile.

Chile aims to be the first South American country to have a free trade agreement with India, a market of more than 1.2 billion people, Moreno added.

The two countries agreed to launch the talks while Moreno was in New Delhi last week for a meeting with his counterpart, Anand Sharma.

A free trade agreement would replace a partial agreement reached in 2007.

Chilean exports to India grew by 45 percent in the first half of 2012 to reach $1.36 billion. Imports from India rose 29 percent in the same period to reach $310 million.