The Hindu Business Line : `SAARC nations must bolster regional co-operation'

INDIA on Monday urged the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to evolve a concrete agenda focussing on economic cooperation to bolster regional cooperation on a more solid basis.

Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day SAARC Commerce Ministers conference in Islamabad, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, said the logic of mutual economic benefit must triumph and for that "it is imperative that the SAARC countries devise a concrete, positive, workable and programme-based agenda central around economic cooperation."

"One in every five human beings on this planet is represented here. If we bring prosperity to our people, we will have achieved something outstandingly remarkable, not just on a regional basis, but on a global scale," Mr Nath said.

He stated that the total intra-regional trade among SAARC countries was barely of the order of $6 billion or so. "It is a drop in the ocean when compared to the total volume of our combined international trade of over $200 billion. We should strive to forge a common platform and a common approach to achieve what is clearly a common goal," he added.

The Minister said that the signing of the agreement on a South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) in January this year at the Islamabad summit was a milestone in the economic profile of SAARC countries. He said that it was a matter of regret that over 90 per cent of the requirements of South Asian countries were still sourced from outside the region. And conversely, a major part of India's exports were also destined for countries outside the SAARC grouping.

Despite the limited concessions of SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA), regional trade had failed to register the kind of growth, which would give us satisfaction, he said.

Mr Nath hoped that the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had been in existence for over a decade with its headquarters in Karachi, would play a little more incisive role now that member countries were embarking on SAFTA and work towards the realisation of SAFTA's full potential.