Yearbook 2009
Brunei. According to countryaah, Brunei and the other nine countries of the Southeast Asian cooperation organization ASEAN signed a free trade agreement with India in August after more than six years of negotiations. According to the agreement, customs duties between the parties are to be lowered on electronics, chemicals, machinery and textiles. These goods account for over 80 percent of ASEAN-India trade. The agreement is valid from January 1, 2010 and the duties will be gradually reduced to be completely abolished around 2016. The exceptions to the agreement were software and information technology as well as agricultural products and rubber. ASEAN also includes Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for abbreviation BN which stands for the nation of Brunei.