ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: The Saarc-member countries are likely to conclude the draft South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) treaty next month allowing free trade among the member countries by 2005.

Officials told Dawn on Wednesday that representatives of the member countries would deliberate in detail on the proposed treaty in the committee of experts’ meeting in Kathmandu before it was formally adopted.

Earlier, the meeting was scheduled for June 9-12, which was postponed at the request of Islamabad because of its other engagements and as well as to allow it some more time to consider the issue of granting most favoured nation (MFN) status to India.

The member countries have already agreed in principle to finalize the agreement latest by 2005 with the aim to promote regional trade in South Asia.

According to the officials, in the next meeting scheduled for October the experts would discuss the realization of SAFTA as a goal latest by 2005. The experts would discuss banking, port and transportation facilities, setting up of reviewing and monitoring mechanism and consumer equitable benefits to all the member countries.

They would also discuss arrangements of shifting to SAFTA from South Asia Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) through all three approaches — product by product, sectoral basis and across-the-board basis.

The committee of experts under Saarc had already held four rounds to talks to work out measures and modalities for concluding the SAFTA, said the officials and added this would be the fifth round of negotiation on the treaty.

The Officials said Pakistan had already constituted an inter- ministerial task force to formulate the country’s position in the regional trade.