VOA标准英语2009年-Indian Trade Pacts Will Contribute to Econ

Two trade pacts² signed recently between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India and South Korea are expected to promote economic integration³ of one of the world's fastest growing regions. The pacts also signal that India is keen to attract more investment from East Asia.
　
S. Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon (r) shakes hands with India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma during a signing ceremony at the Foreign Ministry⁴ in Seoul, S. Korea, 07 Aug 2009

It took six years of hard negotiations⁵ before New Delhi could seal a free trade pact¹ with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) this month.

The pact with the ten ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos) was signed a week after India and South Korea concluded a separate agreement to scrap⁶ or reduce tariffs⁷, in the coming years.

Greater economic access

Economists⁸ say the benefits which will eventually flow from these pacts will be worth the wait, as India gains easier access to an economically dynamic region of more than 600 million people. In turn, India offers South East Asian countries a market of over a billion people.

The pacts are seen as a significant step in a process that has seen India gradually look beyond its traditional trading partners in the West towards the faster growing economies of several East Asian countries, which are lie closer to its shores.

Rajiv Kumar, head of the Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relations in New Delhi, points out that Asia's share in India's exports has risen steadily⁹ in the last four years. He says that the free trade associations or FTAs have been signed at a crucial time, when global economic patterns are changing.

"We know the global economic gravity is slowly but steadily shifting toward the Pacific basin and to Asia and it will be good for India to be connected and integrated with that," said Kumar. "And, these two FTAs will be key for India to explore the Asian markets, make better use of it, and it will be key to India's interest in joining and strengthening the Asian economic community, which is in an incipient¹⁰ stage."

High expectations

Hopes are high that trade between India and ASEAN, which totaled $47 billion last year, will jump by at least 20 percent in the coming years.

Under the pact, tariffs on textiles, electronics, chemicals and machinery¹¹ will be reduced and eventually eliminated. However imports which could affect India's crucial farm sector¹², such as rubber, have been excluded.

India is hoping the pact will give a push to exports in it pharmaceuticals¹³, chemicals and auto¹⁴ sectors¹⁵.

S.K. Mohanty is a senior fellow at the think tank, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, in New Delhi. He says that India's rapidly growing economy has been getting much of its momentum¹⁶ from a huge domestic market. But he says higher exports could contribute to higher growth.

"Export is becoming a very important factor for India, in terms of having a very high level of economic growth and, therefore, export sector has been given high priority," said Mohanty. "So, India's persistent¹⁷ strategy is to ensure that its external sector is growing much faster than the rest of the economy."

Looking beyond trade

Indian policy makers¹⁸ also hope that the benefits of the pact will extend beyond trade and make it easier for India to attract investors¹⁹ from East Asian countries. India is looking for billions of dollars in foreign investment in sectors such as infrastructure²⁰. But investment has been slow to flow, as many investors worry about regulations which make it difficult to do business in the country.

Rajiv Kumar says the free trade pacts may reassure²¹ investors that India is changing as its economic profile grows.

"These FTA's would also signal to the investors in South Korea and ASEAN that India is now, as it were, much more open to business," he said. "So we can expect more investment and technology flows. We need as much investment as we can get in infrastructure, in energy, in roads, in buildings and, even more important, we will need investment in our housing sector."

However, economists point out that India will have to compete with China, whose goods have already flooded Southeast Asian countries. India and East Asia will also need to build better transport and communication links to realize the full benefits of growing trade.

1 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

2 pacts   

条约( pact的名词复数 )； 协定； 公约

参考例句：

• Vassals can no longer accept one-sided defensive pacts (!). 附庸国不会接受单方面的共同防御协定。
• Well, they are EU members now and have formed solidarity pacts with members such as Poland. 他们现在已经是欧盟的一部分了并且他们和欧盟成员诸如波兰等以签署了合作协议。

3 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

7 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

8 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

10 incipient   

adj.起初的，发端的，初期的

参考例句：

• The anxiety has been sharpened by the incipient mining boom.采矿业初期的蓬勃发展加剧了这种担忧。
• What we see then is an incipient global inflation.因此，我们看到的是初期阶段的全球通胀.

11 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

12 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

13 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

15 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

17 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

18 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

20 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

21 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。