Bangkok, Oct 09: Implementing free trade will be beneficial, but if Asia has to move ahead of the West, it must pool its brainpower, says a top official of the India-Thailand Chamber of Commerce. Vinai Sachdev, chairman of the chamber, said he would suggest to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Thai counterpart that they should form a "Union of countries" with other Asian nations including China and Japan to fund joint research and development projects.

R&D is for the future; all other things are for the present, he said here. Prime minister Vajpayee is scheduled to sign a landmark free trade agreement with Thailand later today. Sachdev said that European Nations had cooperated with huge investments in industries like aerospace through consortia like airbus. He suggested that Asian countries should start small in promising areas like aerospace and bio and nano technologies.

He felt FTA between Inda and Thailand will be a win-win situation for both countries. Thailand could gain access to a huge Indian market while India could enter Thai market and other Southeast Asian markets through the Asean free trade agreement.

From March, bilateral agreement will cover tariff reduction for 83 early harvest products including agricultural goods and some industrial raw materials like chemicals. Bureau Report