Saarc states to take common stand on various issues under Doha Round

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FE Report
The SAARC member countries have decided to take a common position on various issues under the Doha Round negotiations for fostering increased regional trade against the backdrop of the changing global scenario.
"The Geneva-based ambassadors of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries will meet to find out a common stance on the Doha Round negotiations," Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed told the newsmen on conclusion of the two-day SAARC committee on economic cooperation (CEC) meeting in the capital Sunday.
As per the 13th SAARC-CEC meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh will coordinate the SAARC group's work in Geneva, he said at a press conference in the secretariat.
Representatives from all the eight SAARC member countries comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were present during the two-day meeting in the Bangladeshi capital.
During the meeting, the SAARC member countries also decided to undertake a new project to ensure cooperation for development of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region.
It also endorsed the recommendations made by the standing group on standards to establish a South Asian Regional Standard Organisation (SARSO), which will be located in Dhaka at the premises of Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI).
The meeting underscored the need for exploring the potentials of renewable energy and biotechnology through regional cooperation to meet the mounting demand for energy in the SAARC region.
India, that has expertise in renewable energy, will undertake necessary actions in this regard.
Regarding issuance of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) certificate of origin, the meeting decided that all the member states would inform the SAARC secretariat of all the certificates issued by each country every six months.
It also decided to scale down the sensitive list to ensure benefit of the least developed countries (LDCs) in the SAARC region.
During the meeting India informed that it will unilaterally provide duty-free access to the LDCs on items which are not in the sensitive list by 2007.