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South
Asian trade officials meet in Nepal’s to remove Non-Tariff
Barriers
Trade officials from across South Asia on Tuesday rapped up a two-day
meeting on non-tariff barriers (NTBs) under the South Asia Free
Trade Area (SAFTA) framework in the Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
A SAFTA sub-group on NTBs met to steer forward negotiations on the
issues that still keep trade from flowing unhindered within the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region.
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.
Foreign trade experts believe SAFTA is expected to increase the
size of the regional market to $610 billion in the near future.
SAARC, formed in 1985, groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
Under the SAFTA, all eight-member countries 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 NBTS
in each country to ensure level-playing field for trade.
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