SAFTA sub-group on NTBs meets in Kathmandu tomorrow
Sunday, 6 January 2008
FE Report
Trade officials from across South Asia will gather in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu tomorrow (Monday) to discuss non-tariff barriers (NTBs) under the SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Area) framework.
A SAFTA sub-group on NTBs will be meeting between January 7 and 8 to steer forward negotiations on the issues that still keep trade from flowing unhindered within the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region.
"We'll urge developing members of the free trade forum, especially India and Pakistan, to remove trade bottlenecks to ensure increased trade within South Asia," a senior commerce ministry official said.
"It may require a couple of meetings further at the official level to settle differences over non-tariff and para-tariff barriers among the contracting members. The meeting will focus on devising strategies how to best address the sticking issues," the official added.
Asked if the current volatile situation in Pakistan would stand in the way of faster implementation of the free trade deal, the official said each government has its own policy and one particular event should not adversely impact the negotiations process.
Officials said a two-member Bangladesh delegation led by joint chief of the commerce ministry Mustafa Abid will take part in the upcoming Kathmandu meeting.
In addition, the meeting will also discuss standards/quality of goods, laboratory tests and packaging problems.
SAARC, formed in 1985, groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
Under the SAFTA, all eight-member countries will have to liberalise and reduce their tariffs to ensure free trade within the SAARC region. Countries of the region have formed a sub-group to identify NBTS in each country to ensure level-playing field for trade.
Bangladesh has identified over 250 products to drop from its sensitive list to trade off with the SAARC member countries in the next meeting of SAFTA negotiation.
SAARC leaders signed the landmark SAFTA pact in the 12th summit held in Islamabad in 2004 and the regional free accord has been announced 'effective' since January 1, 2006.
According to a study, if fully operational, Bangladesh stands to gain much from SAFTA, with its exports to other South Asian nations rising by up to four times.
Officials say export of products, such as apparels, ceramic, cosmetics, recycled plastic, melamine tableware, toiletries, dry cell, automobile batteries, cement and wooden furniture, will increase significantly after the SAFTA becomes operational.
In another study, SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) predicted that intra-regional trade could jump to 50 per cent of the total international trade by the region from the present miniscule 4.0 per cent following the operationalisation of the deal.
The total intra-regional trade amongst SAARC countries is less than $ 7.0 billion as against the combined international trade of $350 billion carried out by the region.
Foreign trade experts believe SAFTA is expected to increase the size of the regional market to $ 610 billion in the near future.
Trade officials from across South Asia will gather in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu tomorrow (Monday) to discuss non-tariff barriers (NTBs) under the SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Area) framework.
A SAFTA sub-group on NTBs will be meeting between January 7 and 8 to steer forward negotiations on the issues that still keep trade from flowing unhindered within the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region.
"We'll urge developing members of the free trade forum, especially India and Pakistan, to remove trade bottlenecks to ensure increased trade within South Asia," a senior commerce ministry official said.
"It may require a couple of meetings further at the official level to settle differences over non-tariff and para-tariff barriers among the contracting members. The meeting will focus on devising strategies how to best address the sticking issues," the official added.
Asked if the current volatile situation in Pakistan would stand in the way of faster implementation of the free trade deal, the official said each government has its own policy and one particular event should not adversely impact the negotiations process.
Officials said a two-member Bangladesh delegation led by joint chief of the commerce ministry Mustafa Abid will take part in the upcoming Kathmandu meeting.
In addition, the meeting will also discuss standards/quality of goods, laboratory tests and packaging problems.
SAARC, formed in 1985, groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
Under the SAFTA, all eight-member countries will have to liberalise and reduce their tariffs to ensure free trade within the SAARC region. Countries of the region have formed a sub-group to identify NBTS in each country to ensure level-playing field for trade.
Bangladesh has identified over 250 products to drop from its sensitive list to trade off with the SAARC member countries in the next meeting of SAFTA negotiation.
SAARC leaders signed the landmark SAFTA pact in the 12th summit held in Islamabad in 2004 and the regional free accord has been announced 'effective' since January 1, 2006.
According to a study, if fully operational, Bangladesh stands to gain much from SAFTA, with its exports to other South Asian nations rising by up to four times.
Officials say export of products, such as apparels, ceramic, cosmetics, recycled plastic, melamine tableware, toiletries, dry cell, automobile batteries, cement and wooden furniture, will increase significantly after the SAFTA becomes operational.
In another study, SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) predicted that intra-regional trade could jump to 50 per cent of the total international trade by the region from the present miniscule 4.0 per cent following the operationalisation of the deal.
The total intra-regional trade amongst SAARC countries is less than $ 7.0 billion as against the combined international trade of $350 billion carried out by the region.
Foreign trade experts believe SAFTA is expected to increase the size of the regional market to $ 610 billion in the near future.