Experts at a programme in Washington D.C. have said the export potentials of the South Asian countries have not been fully realised.
They viewed that the reason of underperformance in trade in South Asia is not because of informal sector but because the way the formal sector is being run.
They came up with the observations at the Third North America Discussion Forum 2019 at the World Bank in the US capital on Friday, says a statement.
SANEM (South Asian Network on Economic Modelling) and World Bank jointly organised the daylong event.
The theme of the conference was "Emerging Global Challenges and Development Strategies in South Asia". The keynote address, titled "Unleashing the Informal Sector in South Asia", was delivered by Dr. Hans Timmer, Chief Economist for the South Asia region, the World Bank.
Dr. Timmer opined that the reason of underperformance in trade in South Asia is not because of informal sector but because the way the formal sector is being run.
The first session on the theme of "Global Trade Scenario" was chaired by Dr Selim Raihan, Executive Director, SANEM and Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka.
Papers on trade relations and other global trade related dynamics in South Asia were presented in the session.
Later, while discussing on the papers, Dr. Raihan observed that the export potentials of the South Asian countries have not been fully realised.
The following session on "Trade and Investment" was chaired by Dr. Robert Carl Michael Beyer, Economist, World Bank.
Papers on trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), women in trade in South Asia and other market strategies were presented in the session. After lunch-break, three consecutive sessions were held.
The third session, on "Labour Market" was chaired by Dr Syed Akhtar Mahmood, Ex Lead Private Sector Specialist in the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice of the World Bank Group.
On the theme of "Social Capital, Institutions", Session 4 was chaired by Dr. Sebastian Franco Bedoya, Research Analyst, World Bank.
The theme of the fifth and last session was "Challenges of Social Sectors", chaired by Dr Maurizio Bussolo, Lead Economist, South Asia Region Office of the Chief Economist, World Bank.
In the day-long conference, total sixteen papers were presented.
In the closing session of the conference, the speakers reiterated their commitment to continuing the discussion forum in the coming years.
