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| Monday, 2 February 2004 |
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SAARC region should work in unison to capture global market - Ravi Karunanayake Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that all South Asian countries should fight in unison to capture the global market rather than fighting with each other. He was addressing a delegation of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the apex trade organisation of SAARC met him at his office last Thursday where representatives from several countries were present, to highlight the importance of having an Industry/Government partnership approach to deal with matters pertaining to the SAFTA agreement and other related trade matters in the region. The delegation led by Padma Jyoti the outgoing president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry outlined the advantage of the region being a visa free area for nationals, which will help to develop its tourism sector. Jyoti said that before the movement of goods and services, people in the region should interact to understand opportunities available in each country. The Minister said Sri Lanka is already in that category where SAARC nationals can enter the country free of visas. Other countries could adopt this example. Minister Karunanayake also told the group that if the SAARC region can work together by reducing trade barriers "economy of scale" could be achieved in our businesses which will help us to compete with global competitors more effectively. He also said that SAARC countries should carry out trading activities within the region rather than going elsewhere, 20 per cent share of our trading, will give the region a good back up to improve. This Delegation is currently in Colombo to attend the ongoing 29th and 30th executive committee meeting of the chamber. During this meeting the Presidency of the SAARC Chamber was handed over to Sri Lanka followed by the investment seminar on Saturday. |
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