Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday expressed the hope that the ASEAN member nations and India will collectively work in a determined manner to ensure early conclusion of a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.

Inaugurating the 4th India ASEAN Expo and Summit 2019 organised by FICCI jointly with the Ministry of Commerce, Prabhu said that India and the ASEAN region were set to outpace global growth which has been marked by a continuing slowdown.

India, he said, was growing at 7 per cent and the ASEAN countries at 5 per cent, annually.

He invited companies from the ASEAN region to take advantage of the multifarious opportunities that are being unleashed in India in areas such as healthcare, education, tourism, financial services and artificial intelligence.

Prabhu also stressed on the imperative of close collaboration between India and the ASEAN region to counter the menace of terrorism and achieve the goal of progress, prosperity and peace enshrined in India ASEAN relations.

The ASEAN trade ministers, in their remarks, outlined the strength and potential of India ASEAN trade relations, the critical need to conclude the RECP by year-end and gave a snap-shot of India's bilateral ties with each of their countries in the backdrop of the global slowdown and the moves towards anti-globalisation.