Malaysia, India to begin free trade mid-2011

Malaysia and India announced Wednesday that a long delayed trade accord between the two countries would take effect by July 2011, doubling two-way trade to 15 billion dollars by 2015.
"I'm glad to officially announce that the agreement will come into effect in 2011. That will signify a huge strategic move... and establish a strategic and stronger bilateral relationship," Prime Minister Najib Razak told a joint news conference after a meeting Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
"I'm very confident when this agreement comes into force, the trade targets that we have set, which is basically 15 billion dollars by 2015, will be attained if not earlier," Najib said.
The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will cover trade in goods and services, investment and economic cooperation and will be signed by the two sides by January, according to a joint-statement.
Singh arrived in Malaysia Tuesday for a three-day visit in a bid to bolster ties with Southeast Asia's third largest economy.