Thrust on removing mistrust, trade barriers among SAARC countries
Sunday, 24 April 2011
FE Report
Removal of mistrust and trade barriers is a must for enhancing regional cooperation among the South Asian countries despite great potentialities of regional trade, speakers said at a conference Saturday. They stressed the need for enhancing regional cooperation through united efforts to chart out a road map among the SAARC countries. The region has only 5.0 per cent of the total global business though 20 per cent of the total population live in the countries, they said. A large number of tariff and non-tariff barriers hinder the way of business with the neighbouring countries but mistrust is the biggest one, SME Foundation Chairman Aftab-ul-Islam said. Because of such unfortunate psychological barrier, Bangladeshi products fail to enter India and Pakistan as the manufacturers face various barriers including getting visa, he explained. He was speaking at the '2nd South Asian Countries SME Forum Conference' in city, where Industries Minister Dilip Barua was present as the chief guest. A good number of Indian TV channels have access to Bangladesh while the Pannels of the latter face various barriers to entering India, he said requesting his Indian counterpart to address the issues. Dilip Barua said "We must chart out a clear roadmap and commit ourselves to effectively following in through for the betterment of the large population of South Asian region." SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are also facing diverse challenges including access to finance, high bank rate, negative attitude of the banks and financial institutions, poor marketing facility and weak infrastructure which are the common challenges that hindered the growth and development of SMEs in South Asian countries, he said. "It is time that we consolidate and forge a stronger alliance to deal with these issues effectively and resolutely, he said adding concerted and comprehensive regional actions are needed to respond to and overcome these common issues. Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President AK Azad said political conflict should be overcome to enhance regional cooperation as SMEs can play a key role in developing the economy of South Asian countries. National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB) organised the conference and its president Sheikh Abdus Sobhan took charge as the new chairman of South Asian Countries' SME Forum. The Forum was formed in 2005 with the aim to look after the common interest of SME associations of this region. The main objectives of the Forum include better business understanding, possibilities of joint ventures, transfer of technology, improver bilateral trade, policy making initiatives in the SME sector and creating a permanent platform. South Asian Countries' SME Forum outgoing president Samir Gupta also spoke while representatives from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Afghanistan and China were present in the programme.
Removal of mistrust and trade barriers is a must for enhancing regional cooperation among the South Asian countries despite great potentialities of regional trade, speakers said at a conference Saturday. They stressed the need for enhancing regional cooperation through united efforts to chart out a road map among the SAARC countries. The region has only 5.0 per cent of the total global business though 20 per cent of the total population live in the countries, they said. A large number of tariff and non-tariff barriers hinder the way of business with the neighbouring countries but mistrust is the biggest one, SME Foundation Chairman Aftab-ul-Islam said. Because of such unfortunate psychological barrier, Bangladeshi products fail to enter India and Pakistan as the manufacturers face various barriers including getting visa, he explained. He was speaking at the '2nd South Asian Countries SME Forum Conference' in city, where Industries Minister Dilip Barua was present as the chief guest. A good number of Indian TV channels have access to Bangladesh while the Pannels of the latter face various barriers to entering India, he said requesting his Indian counterpart to address the issues. Dilip Barua said "We must chart out a clear roadmap and commit ourselves to effectively following in through for the betterment of the large population of South Asian region." SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are also facing diverse challenges including access to finance, high bank rate, negative attitude of the banks and financial institutions, poor marketing facility and weak infrastructure which are the common challenges that hindered the growth and development of SMEs in South Asian countries, he said. "It is time that we consolidate and forge a stronger alliance to deal with these issues effectively and resolutely, he said adding concerted and comprehensive regional actions are needed to respond to and overcome these common issues. Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President AK Azad said political conflict should be overcome to enhance regional cooperation as SMEs can play a key role in developing the economy of South Asian countries. National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB) organised the conference and its president Sheikh Abdus Sobhan took charge as the new chairman of South Asian Countries' SME Forum. The Forum was formed in 2005 with the aim to look after the common interest of SME associations of this region. The main objectives of the Forum include better business understanding, possibilities of joint ventures, transfer of technology, improver bilateral trade, policy making initiatives in the SME sector and creating a permanent platform. South Asian Countries' SME Forum outgoing president Samir Gupta also spoke while representatives from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Afghanistan and China were present in the programme.