Exploring Indo ASEAN Economic Partnership in Globalising World

This study on Indo-ASEAN economic partnership is in some sense a follow-up of our earlier study on Meeting the Challenges of the European Union: Prospects of Indian Exports (1997). Having observed various rigidities in terms of newer trade barriers inhibiting Indo-EU trade, it came to our mind over and over again why not diversify trade to the countries of geographical proximity. The articulation of Look east policy almost around the time of India?fs shift to the new policy regime relying on market forces and globalization in the nineties further inspired us to initiate the present study. In a study such as this, the questions that are highly relevant are: ?? What is the strength of Indo-ASEAN economic ties as revealed in trade and investment between them? ?? What is their growth profile and inter-temporal transformation in trading patterns? ?? What are the important market dynamics in the bilateral trade? ?? Has the globalization process brought better alignment of Indian exports with ASEAN import demand or driven a wedge between them? ?? How has the east Asian crisis of 1997 impacted Indo-ASEAN economic relations? ?? What could be inferred on the basis of the realized trade as to their potentials? ?? How has Indo-ASEAN investment partnership flourished in the globalising environment? ?? What are the glitches in enlarging their investment cooperation? Our study probes into these questions and some more at a highly disaggregate level analysis of secondary data, wherever available, and by collecting primary data wherever not. Our findings suggest a variety of possibilities of widening and deepening economic cooperation between India and the ASEAN states. Initiatives such as articulating the Look east policy and several others towards promoting better economic ties have clearly yielded positive outcome of expanding trade investment cooperation. But what has been realized falls far short of what could be achieved. Our analysis and insights clearly indicate that a lot more efforts would be unavoidable if such potentials are to be realized.