DHAKA, Oct 28: Bangladesh Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan doubts that the landmark South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta) will be ready in time for its scheduled implementation in January, a report said on Friday.

The treaty will create the world’s biggest free trade bloc involving more than 1.30 billion people in the South Asia region.

Khan, according to the private UNB news agency, told diplomatic reporters the deferment of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit on two occasions this year had left the Safta negotiations incomplete.

“In view of this situation, it is not possible for me to assure you that Safta will come into effect on schedule,” Khan said.

Leaders of the seven Saarc countries — India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives — signed the Safta framework agreement in Islamabad in January 2004.

They set June 2005 the deadline to wrap up negotiations and January 1, 2006 as the date of operation.

But the annual SAARC summit, which was meant to take place from January 9-11, was cancelled after last December’s tsunami disaster that battered Asian nations. Rescheduled for February 6-7, it was postponed again at the last minute after India pulled out citing security concerns in the region.

The two-day summit is now scheduled to start on November 12 in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka.

The Safta pact is expected to spur trade among South Asian countries, home to the world’s largest number of poor.

At present, the seven South Asian nations do less than five per cent of their international trade among themselves.

Experts are yet to narrow differences on three key issues; rules of origin, a sensitive list of sectors and revenue compensation for least developed countries, a Bangladesh official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

He said for the rules of origin, which determines which product will be eligible for duty-free access in all seven nations, Bangladesh has demanded some let-ups for its biggest export earner, ready made garments.

There are also differences on the composition of the sensitive list, or the list of products that a particular country will not grant duty free access to the other six members, he said.—AFP