<span style="color: #222222;">Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary has said that  the trade is increasing between India and ASEAN and now there is a need to focus on enhancing the pace of growth of the trade. Addressing 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit in New Delhi today, Mr Chaudhary stressed the need to identify the fields where India and ASEAN can increase trade based on the production in a particular country. He said, ASEAN has emerged as the second largest trade partner of India in 2017-18 with a share of 10.57 per cent in India's overall trade. Mr Chaudhary said, India-ASEAN trade has grown more than threefold from 2005-06 to 2017-18. The Minister said, lower cost of logistics, close proximity and cultural and commercial connectivity have helped India and ASEAN nations to share strong trade ties over the years. He added that, to further expand India- ASEAN economic partnership, Regional Value Chains need to be created on an urgent basis. Mr Chaudhary said, India-ASEAN can work together in Agriculture, processed food, leather, textiles, pharma, automobiles and other sectors. He said, India-ASEAN also need to work towards building an agreement to promote cooperation between MSMEs of the two countries.</span><br />