SAARC CEC meet begins to bolster intra-regional trade
Sunday, 25 November 2007
FE Report
The 13th meeting of the 'Committee on Economic Cooperation (CEC)' of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) began in Dhaka Saturday aiming to bolster intra-regional trade.
High-powered delegations of the eight-member SAARC, comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, led by their commerce secretaries, are participating in the meeting.
SAARC secretary general, Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji, opened the 13th CEC meeting at Hotel Sheraton while commerce secretary of Bangladesh Feroz Ahmed has been elected as the chairperson of the SAARC-CEC.
The ambassadors of member states of the SAARC, among others, were present at the opening session of a two-day CEC meeting.
The CEC meeting, scheduled to end today (Sunday), will discuss a set of agenda, including current status of trade cooperation and integration in SAARC and current status of study on potential of trade in services under SAFTA agreement. It will review the intra-SAARC trade: non-tariff/para-tariff measurers, regional connectivity, draft agreement on promotion and protection investments, establishment of SAARC arbitration council and visa facilitation.
Implementation of various trade facilitation measures, including the work of Standing Group on Standards, Quality Control and Measurement and SAARC Standards Coordination Board and Group on Customs Cooperating and Implementation of SAARC Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs matter was on the top of the agenda in the first day's meeting, sources said.
They said the CEC will consider making a formal request to the USA, Canada, Japan and Switzerland to recognise SAARC as an organisation for according cumulative rules of origin under their respective Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
Apart from this, sources said, the meeting will discuss issues relating to cooperation with international organisations including World Trade Organisation (WTO), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI) and European Commission (EC).
The representative of SCCI made a presentation on Regional Economic Cooperation in the CEC meeting.
Speaking at the opening session, Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji, secretary general, said the 13th and 14th SAARC summit laid greater importance on improving intra-regional connectivity to facilitate intra-regional trade.
"I am happy to inform the committee that following the completion of the SAARC Regional Multi Modal Transport Study at their first ever meeting held in New Delhi in August 2007 the transport ministers have identified several pilot, sub-regional projects for implementation," he said.
The SAARC secretary general further said an intra-SAARC network of rail, road, aviation and waterways could significantly cut down the existing high level of transaction costs involved in intra-regional trade.
The commerce secretary of Bangladesh, Feroz Ahmed, welcomed his counterparts at the CEC meeting and said the SAARC has been playing a vital role in boosting economic activities in the region since its formation in 1991.
The 13th meeting of the 'Committee on Economic Cooperation (CEC)' of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) began in Dhaka Saturday aiming to bolster intra-regional trade.
High-powered delegations of the eight-member SAARC, comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, led by their commerce secretaries, are participating in the meeting.
SAARC secretary general, Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji, opened the 13th CEC meeting at Hotel Sheraton while commerce secretary of Bangladesh Feroz Ahmed has been elected as the chairperson of the SAARC-CEC.
The ambassadors of member states of the SAARC, among others, were present at the opening session of a two-day CEC meeting.
The CEC meeting, scheduled to end today (Sunday), will discuss a set of agenda, including current status of trade cooperation and integration in SAARC and current status of study on potential of trade in services under SAFTA agreement. It will review the intra-SAARC trade: non-tariff/para-tariff measurers, regional connectivity, draft agreement on promotion and protection investments, establishment of SAARC arbitration council and visa facilitation.
Implementation of various trade facilitation measures, including the work of Standing Group on Standards, Quality Control and Measurement and SAARC Standards Coordination Board and Group on Customs Cooperating and Implementation of SAARC Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs matter was on the top of the agenda in the first day's meeting, sources said.
They said the CEC will consider making a formal request to the USA, Canada, Japan and Switzerland to recognise SAARC as an organisation for according cumulative rules of origin under their respective Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
Apart from this, sources said, the meeting will discuss issues relating to cooperation with international organisations including World Trade Organisation (WTO), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI) and European Commission (EC).
The representative of SCCI made a presentation on Regional Economic Cooperation in the CEC meeting.
Speaking at the opening session, Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji, secretary general, said the 13th and 14th SAARC summit laid greater importance on improving intra-regional connectivity to facilitate intra-regional trade.
"I am happy to inform the committee that following the completion of the SAARC Regional Multi Modal Transport Study at their first ever meeting held in New Delhi in August 2007 the transport ministers have identified several pilot, sub-regional projects for implementation," he said.
The SAARC secretary general further said an intra-SAARC network of rail, road, aviation and waterways could significantly cut down the existing high level of transaction costs involved in intra-regional trade.
The commerce secretary of Bangladesh, Feroz Ahmed, welcomed his counterparts at the CEC meeting and said the SAARC has been playing a vital role in boosting economic activities in the region since its formation in 1991.