08/01/2008 (The Hindu), Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia and India hope to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at the earliest, although an agreement has eluded them so far over Kuala Lumpur's demand that New Delhi cut duties on palm oil.

"We hope to conclude all matters in the fastest time possible," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters here on Monday after a courtesy call by Indian Defence Minister A K Antony, who is on a two-day official visit.

Syed Hamid noted that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry had been negotiating the FTA.

India imports about three million tons of palm oil and its variants annually, mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Indian commodity bourse MCX.

"Both parties want the FTA signed as soon as possible," Syed Hamid said, adding that the two also wanted the India-Asean FTA to be concluded soon to further enhance ties between the ten ASEAN member states and India.

Differences over duty cuts on palm oil, besides market access to pepper and tea, has been a major roadblock in India's quest to conclude a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN, of which Malaysia is a part.

"So far we have cleared all issues as regards to the FTA between Asean and India. The only outstanding issue, I think, is on palm oil. We hope this too can be concluded in the near future," Syed Hamid added.

New Delhi has made an offer to reduce customs duty on crude palm oil to 50 per cent and on refined palm oil 60 per cent by 2018. ASEAN, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia, wants India to bind the import duties at 30 per cent and 40 per cent on crude and refined palm oil respectively.