The Quest for Looking East

Abstract

The announcement of "look-east policy" in 1992 initiated the process of revitalising India's economic partnership with ASEAN countries. During the "look-east policy" period, the country attempted to enhance trade and investment linkages with some of the ASEAN countries. It succeeded compared to much less of its potentials in enhancing trade penetration in some of the ASEAN markets. For ASEAN countries, USA, Japan and China are vital trade partners and, therefore, for increasing trade with ASEAN countries India needs to adopt strategic planning on individual country basis by taking into consideration their changing economic characteristics. Unlike trade, investment cooperation between India and ASEAN could not prosper much over the period for various reasons. Much of ASEAN foreign investment goes to China and other developing countries of East Asia. For ASEAN countries, liberalised trade regime of the host country is most important factor in outsourcing their FDl India needs to open trade regime as foreign investment is now increasingly more related with trading opportunities than with local market exploitation.