We welcome the call made by Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed for Saarc leaders to remove trade barriers in South Asia.
Increasing trade within our region is essential in order to lift economic prospects.
However, despite being in existence for nearly a decade the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) is far from an economic reality in practice.
Non-tariff barriers including bureaucratic obstacles and slow border crossings hugely hold back the ability of businesses to take advantage of those duty-free access agreements which have been enacted.
Without tackling these types of issue, the signing of a framework agreement by Safta members to reduce customs duties on all traded goods to zero by 2016, will fail to make much difference.
As the minister highlighted in his address to the Safta ministerial council in Bhutan this month, enhancing regional trade is vital to help South Asian nations to reduce poverty. According to the World Bank, South Asia is home to over half the world’s chronically poor people, with more than 500 million people living on less than $1.25 a day.
If Saarc and safta are to tackle the challenge of lifting people out of poverty, they must boost intra-regional trade to make the most of their potential.
Projects to enhance cross-border co-operation on infrastructure, particularly in relation to energy, transport and hydropower, should be furthered to build collaboration and help to bring down the non-tariff barriers which hold back growth in the region.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
