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| Tuesday, 04 January 2005 |
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SAARC business community calls for SAFTA soon by Sudarshana Perera The business community in the SAARC region has proposed to the Heads of governments to implement a South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) soon .The next SAARC summit in Dhaka is expected to discuss the recommendations proposed by the public-private partnership in the region. The SAFTA is focused to establish an Economic Union in South Asia and to set up a fund to finance projects for human and infrastructure development in the region. A roundtable discussion was held in New Delhi recently to help expedite the agreement and to make recommendations for the consideration of the SAARC summit. Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) M. Cooray said that the SAFTA will lead to fully fledged market integration among SAARC countries with greater trade liberalisation. Cooray who represented Sri Lanka at the discussion in India said that the treaty will help create free flow of capital in the region and SARRC investment area. "One of the very first steps to be undertaken to make regional integration possible is a substantial easing of travel restrictions in the region. Under the agreement, we have proposed to reduce tariff on agricultural products to allow broader access to markets in developed countries. Joint projects should be undertaken in collaboration with the private sector for the development of the ports which are lying in a very poor state for lack of attention and adequate investment", Cooray said. The member countries are expected to undertake a joint promotion on tourism. The agreement has also proposed harmonisation of accounting practices so that banks in the SAARC countries will have a common accounting framework. Some financial analysts said that SAFTA will ultimately lead to a common currency in the SAARC countries and it is a positive step in the right direction to compete with other regional bodies such as The European Union (EU). South Asian Countries should develop and adopt a common position on the ongoing WTO negotiations on Trade to make the treaty more viable and competitive, they said. |
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