Singapore (PTI): India and southeast Asian trading bloc ASEAN on Thursday successfully concluded six years of negotiations for a free trade agreement in goods that will create an European Union-like single market.

A "key regional milestone" is how Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath described the Trade in Goods (TIG) agreement with the 10-member ASEAN.

The deal would be formally signed during the India-ASEAN summit in Bangkok in December.

"The countries of East Asia are important drivers of growth... with large consumption to drive global economies," Nath told a joint press conference of India-ASEAN economic ministers, referring to the combined market of over 1.5 billion people that is waiting to be tapped.

"It took six years for India to understand the sensitivities of ASEAN, and for the ASEAN to understand the sensitivities of India," Nath added.

India and ASEAN currently enjoy a total trade of USD 38 billion and expect it to touch USD 50 billion by 2010.

The pact was supposed to have been reached last year, but talks were held up over differences on products that India wanted to exclude from tariff cuts. New Delhi had submitted a list of 1,414 products, while the ASEAN's target number was 400.

Under the pact, India and ASEAN will eliminate import duties on 71 per cent of products by December 31, 2012 and another 9 per cent by 2015. Duties on 8 to 10 per cent of the products that have been kept in the sensitive list will also be brought down to 5 per cent.