South Asian trade officials to meet today

Trade officials from across South Asia are gathering in the capital Monday to discuss non-tariff barriers (NTBs) under the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework.

A two-day meeting of SAFTA sub-group on NTBs will kick off Monday to push forward negotiations on the issues that still keep trade from flowing unhindered within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region.

According to SAFTA trade experts, the total intra-regional trade amongst SAARC countries is less than $7 billion as against the combined international trade of $350 billion carried out by the region.

Under the SAFTA, all eight-member countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan - will have to liberalize and reduce their tariffs to ensure free trade within the SAARC region.

Countries of the region have formed a sub-group to identify NTBs in each country to ensure level-playing field for trade. nepalnews.com ag Jan 07 08