The trade ministers from South Asian nations including Bangladesh are scheduled to meet in Thimpu next month to kick-start the stalled trade liberalisation process in goods and services among the member countries under the Safta agreement.
Officials of Bangladesh’s commerce ministry were upbeat that the outcome of the meeting would be positive after a new government in India, an important member state of Safta, was sworn in recently.
The meeting, styled, ‘Safta Ministerial Council’ will be held on July 24, which will be preceded by a two-day committee of experts meeting to finalise revised sensitive lists of products for member countries, senior officials at the commerce ministry said.
The commerce minister, Tofail Ahmed, will attend the South Asia Free Trade Area meeting leading the Bangladesh delegation.
‘Long stalled trade liberalisation programme through shortening the sensitive lists of products of eight member countries of Safta is expected to kick-start from the council meeting of the block’s trade ministers,’ a trade official at the commerce ministry told New Age.
He said trade in services, signed more than three years back, but yet to make any breakthrough on its implementation stage is also expected to get a clear direction from the South Asian trade ministers’ meeting.
The past ministerial council was held in Male, the Maldives, in June 2011.
Since then, no major breakthrough has taken place as the member countries are more concerned for their revenue incomes than enhancing trade.
‘We have made very little progress since the Safta agreement was signed in 2004, due mainly to regimented minds of member countries and fear of revenue loss,’ a senior trade official said.
The commerce ministry officials said the a number of Safta member countries including Bangladesh are yet to fully implement the Male declaration as the ministers had decided to trim down their respective sensitive lists of products under the second phase of trade liberalisation programme under Safta.
They, however, said Bangladesh within this month would notify trimming down their sensitive list, a list of products kept outside the purview for reduction or elimination of import duty, by another 246 items.
Presently, only five per cent of total trade takes place among the member countries of Safta that falls under its trade liberalisation programme, thanks to bigger sensitive lists of Safta’s eight member countries, said commerce ministry officials.
The next Safta council meeting is likely to decide on further shortening the sensitive lists of member countries by another 30 per cent to liberalise trade within the South Asian nations.
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the members of Safta.
Presently, the SL of Afghanistan consists of 850 items, Bangladesh’s SL consists of 987 items for least developed countries within the Safta trade block and 993 for developing ones, Bhutan has 150 items in its SL, India has 25 items, mostly tobacco and wine in its SL for LDCs and 614 products for developing member countries, the Maldives has only 154 items in their list, Nepal’s SL consists of 998 items for LDCs and 1036 for non-LDCs and Pakistan has SL of 936 items.
-With New Age input
