 |
Kathmandu Monday January 07, 2002 Paush 23, 2058.
|
SAARC limps towards SAARC Free
Trade Area
By Bhaskar Sharma
KATHMANDU, Jan 6:If there is anything that has
featured most prominently in the Kathmandu declaration of the eleventh summit of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that concluded here Sunday, then it is
the economic issues.
The statements made by the South Asian leaders
have, among others, heightened hopes that the SAARC Free Trade Area (SAFTA) would, after
all, materialise sooner or later. And this comes as an encouragement, especially because
of the wave of scepticism over SAFTA’s activation that was sweeping prior to the
summit.
South Asian leaders had initially aimed to
activate SAFTA before the end of 2001, but later changed the target to just signing of the
draft treaty. And although both the targets did not materialise, there are grounds to be
euphoric over the outcome of the 11th SAARC summit.
The heads of the states and governments from the
seven member nations today signed the declaration reiterating, among others, to move
quickly to SAFTA. And the first step will be by finalising the text of the Draft Treaty
Framework by the end of 2002.
Unlike the previous SAARC declarations, an
important point to note in the declaration this time is that the leaders emphasised for a
free trade treaty regime, which binds timeframe for freeing trade, lays down measures to
facilitate trade and contains provisions to ensure an equitable distribution of benefits
of trade to all states. And this in itself is commendable.
Furthermore, consensus of the leaders to
accelerate cooperation in the core areas of trade, finance and investment to realise the
goal of integrated South Asian economy in a step-by-step manner is laudable.
Each of the seven member-states also agreed to
expedite action to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers and structural impediments to
trade. This is likely to induce a greater intra-country movement of the private sector,
which will aid in realising the SAFTA goals tremendously.
The determination shown by the SAARC members to
make the full use of regional synergy to maximise the benefits of globalisation and
liberalisation and to minimise their negative impacts on the region can truly become one
factor that would guide the region to greater economic cooperation.
And the declaration certainly is, despite the
current heights attained by Indo-Pak rivalry, one step further to the formation of SAFTA.
Differences between the two countries may exist, but what brings them closer is their
thrust for a South Asian economic bloc. And that may be because of the recent free trade
deal of some members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
However, the transition from the current regime
to a free trade area is not easy. Dismantling all existing trade barriers, a better
India-Pakistan relations, and long term policies to guide regional trading, among others,
are the prerequisites for a successful South Asian economic bloc.
And all these are, albeit the private sector in
the SAARC region has long been pressing for greater mobility in South Asia, likely to come
in the way of creating the free trade zone. It may be recalled that SAARC Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (SCCI), almost three years back, had pressed for free movement of
the private sector in the SAARC region.
Although the Kathmandu declaration has come out
positively, against initial expectations that Indo-Pak conflict would once again put the
South Asian regional relations in turmoil, some pitfalls do exist.
Each of the seven leaders stressed upon the need
for regional economic cooperation to survive the challenges posed by globalisation and
liberalisation, yet the declaration makes no mention of the dates for the signing of the
SAFTA draft treaty.
In addition, the declaration also fails to
mention as to when the free trade area would be operationalised. And this leaves room to
doubt the effective implementation of the declaration, despite assertion of even the
critics that "SAARC has indeed limped towards SAFTA."
Other Stories
|
