Boost for socio-economic development:

SAARC Portal to promote regional trade

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The SAARC Trade Portal was launched to promote regional trade. Importers and exporters of the South Asian region now have access to trade-related information at www.saarctrade.info.

The web portal was launched at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kathmandu. Nepal and Sri Lanka was represented by Export Development and International Trade Minister Prof. G L Peiris and members from the selected network partner organizations, namely the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCISL), National Chamber of Commerce (NCC)and the Department of Commerce. Several other trade ministers from SAARC member countries, representatives from the business community and public organizations from the region were also present.

CCC Sri Lanka, CEO Haren Malwatte said that the initiators of the portal can access reliable trade information to generate additional business because more and better information facilitates faster, more efficient and cost effective ways realize intra regional business and trading opportunities.

As a result successful business will create more employment and contribute to the socio-economic development in the SAARC region.

The initiative enjoys the support of 26 leading trade bodies, including trade departments, Chambers and industrial associations from all eight SAARC member states providing and continuously validating the content of the portal. The portal, the first of its kind in South Asia, is a state-of-the-art product of the SAARC trade information project and is jointly implemented by the SAARC Information Centre (SIC) Nepal and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.