December 9, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: Saarc member countries need to adopt a coherent strategy to harmonise their trade regime, focusing in particular on tariff regimes, transport and transit systems as well as custom procedures.

This was stated by Dr A.R. Kemal, Director Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, at the start of the 6th meeting of the Saarc Network of Researchers on Global, Financial and Economic Issues here on Monday. He underlined the gains to be obtained through regional economic cooperation in production, specialization, efficiency and improved quality of exports.

In this context, the case for promoting regional economic cooperation in South Asia is particularly compelling, he added.

The Network was set up in pursuance of a decision of the 1998 Saarc summit aimed to foster intellectual cooperation in the region and strengthen member countries’ capabilities for strategic policy-making through academic and policy-oriented research. Nine economic experts from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are among the participants.

Maintaining that Saarc countries have the potential to enhance their growth prospects through greater trade and investment linkages, Dr Kemal said better ties within the region would greatly benefit the countries through access to larger markets and greater competition.

He said the process of globalization too had made national economies more integrated through greater cross-border flows of trade, investment and financial capital. Yet, this process has coincided with increasing unemployment and worsening poverty in many developing countries.

Notwithstanding the view held by some experts that it had widened the rich-poor gap, globalization is here to stay, he added.

He said the Network could play an important role in identifying the costs and benefits of globalization and in recommending strategies that member countries could adopt to benefit from the opportunities offered by it and to deal effectively with the challenges.

Dr Kemal also referred to the emerging multilateral trading system under the WTO with its far-reaching implications for the member countries.

While trade liberalization across the globe was expected to drive future growth in incomes and jobs and to create new patterns of production and exchange, much depended on how the Doha development round proceeded in the wake of the failure of WTO members to reach an agreement at Cancun.

He said it was imperative that Saarc member countries forged a strategic alliance in any future trade negotiations to safeguard their interests.

He said although South Asian countries had comparative advantage in farm products, the regional economies were unable to realize their export potential mainly due to heavy subsidies provided by rich countries.

“The member countries stand to gain by joining forces to fight for fair trade deals that provide a level-playing field to the participants in the trading system.”

South Asia, Dr Kemal said, was home to about 40 per cent of the world’s poor — greater than the combined poor of sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab states, Latin America and the Caribbean.

He said the Network could play an important role in reducing poverty in the region. A plan of action in this connection should focus on sound macro-economic policies, pursuing human development through investment in human capital and social sectors and good governance.

The meeting will conclude after presentations by participants on the issues of economic development confronting the region on Tuesday.