Bangladesh assessing service sector weaknesses before entering SAARC trade deal
Friday, 31 July 2009
Nazmul Ahsan
The ministry of commerce has started assessing the strength and weakness of service sector before the country enters into the SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services soon, official sources said.
The ministry on Wednesday sent a questionnaire to at least 30 government ministries, divisions, the Bangladesh Bank and large private entities to know the actual potential in the service sector and to identify regulatory loopholes, if any.
The member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have so far completed three rounds of talks on the proposed agreement on trade in services. The fourth round of expert group meeting is scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on August 17-18,2009, sources said.
The SAARC-member countries -- Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- will submit their 'request list' of investment areas under the service sector at the talks, a high official in the Tariff Commission said.
"We have almost completed negotiations under the SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services as the agreement on trade in goods is in force now," a high official in the ministry of commerce told the FE.
"A number of unsettled issues under the framework agreement are expected to be finalised in the next-round meeting."
"We are concentrating now on finalising our list of service sector for both opening up for regional investment and for seeking our investment opportunities in other countries of the SAARC."
The ministry of commerce has also identified some broad areas under the service sector, where the country's strength and weakness are being evaluated, sources said.
The areas include research and development, real estate , advertising, telecommunication, audio-visual, distribution, educational, environmental, financial, health-related social services, tourism, recreational, news agency, sporting, maritime, internal waterways, air transport, space transport, road and rail transport and pipeline transport.
While sending the questionnaire, along with the identified areas in service sector, the ministry of commerce asked the relevant agencies to give the feed-back at the earliest, sources said.
The ministry through its questionnaire wanted to know market access conditions for foreign supplies, contribution of the related areas in service sector to gross domestic product (GDP), possible negative impact if foreign investment is allowed, market structure of domestic service sector, number of private and state-owned service providers under the ministry concerned, available state subsidies, barriers to employment in foreign countries faced by Bangladeshi citizens and potential benefits and threats to SAARC cooperation in the sector concerned.
According to the latest negotiated draft of the SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services, the member countries will proceed through the positive list approach, in contrary to the negative list one, under the South Asian Free Trade Accord (SAFTA).
The procurement of services by the governments concerned have been kept outside the purview of the proposed agreement on trade in services, said the draft.
The entrance of natural persons has been made easier under the draft agreement.
'Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Contracting State from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons of the other Contracting State into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including those measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to the other Contracting State under the terms of a specific commitment undertaken under this Agreement,' the draft notes.
Mutual recognition has been accepted as the principle to help increase the flow of trade in services among the member countries.
'For the purposes of the fulfilment of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, licensing or certification of services suppliers, a Contracting State may recognise the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in the other Contracting State,' states the draft agreement on trade in services.
Special and differential treatment will be given to least developed countries (LDCs) among the members of the Saarc.
The SAFTA Committee of Experts (CoE) will monitor, review and facilitate implementation of the provisions of the agreement.
The ministry of commerce has started assessing the strength and weakness of service sector before the country enters into the SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services soon, official sources said.
The ministry on Wednesday sent a questionnaire to at least 30 government ministries, divisions, the Bangladesh Bank and large private entities to know the actual potential in the service sector and to identify regulatory loopholes, if any.
The member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have so far completed three rounds of talks on the proposed agreement on trade in services. The fourth round of expert group meeting is scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on August 17-18,2009, sources said.
The SAARC-member countries -- Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- will submit their 'request list' of investment areas under the service sector at the talks, a high official in the Tariff Commission said.
"We have almost completed negotiations under the SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services as the agreement on trade in goods is in force now," a high official in the ministry of commerce told the FE.
"A number of unsettled issues under the framework agreement are expected to be finalised in the next-round meeting."
"We are concentrating now on finalising our list of service sector for both opening up for regional investment and for seeking our investment opportunities in other countries of the SAARC."
The ministry of commerce has also identified some broad areas under the service sector, where the country's strength and weakness are being evaluated, sources said.
The areas include research and development, real estate , advertising, telecommunication, audio-visual, distribution, educational, environmental, financial, health-related social services, tourism, recreational, news agency, sporting, maritime, internal waterways, air transport, space transport, road and rail transport and pipeline transport.
While sending the questionnaire, along with the identified areas in service sector, the ministry of commerce asked the relevant agencies to give the feed-back at the earliest, sources said.
The ministry through its questionnaire wanted to know market access conditions for foreign supplies, contribution of the related areas in service sector to gross domestic product (GDP), possible negative impact if foreign investment is allowed, market structure of domestic service sector, number of private and state-owned service providers under the ministry concerned, available state subsidies, barriers to employment in foreign countries faced by Bangladeshi citizens and potential benefits and threats to SAARC cooperation in the sector concerned.
According to the latest negotiated draft of the SAARC Framework Agreement on Trade in Services, the member countries will proceed through the positive list approach, in contrary to the negative list one, under the South Asian Free Trade Accord (SAFTA).
The procurement of services by the governments concerned have been kept outside the purview of the proposed agreement on trade in services, said the draft.
The entrance of natural persons has been made easier under the draft agreement.
'Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Contracting State from applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons of the other Contracting State into, or their temporary stay in, its territory, including those measures necessary to protect the integrity of, and to ensure the orderly movement of natural persons across its borders, provided that such measures are not applied in such a manner as to nullify or impair the benefits accruing to the other Contracting State under the terms of a specific commitment undertaken under this Agreement,' the draft notes.
Mutual recognition has been accepted as the principle to help increase the flow of trade in services among the member countries.
'For the purposes of the fulfilment of its standards or criteria for the authorisation, licensing or certification of services suppliers, a Contracting State may recognise the education or experience obtained, requirements met, or licences or certifications granted in the other Contracting State,' states the draft agreement on trade in services.
Special and differential treatment will be given to least developed countries (LDCs) among the members of the Saarc.
The SAFTA Committee of Experts (CoE) will monitor, review and facilitate implementation of the provisions of the agreement.