Report

More documents

Recommendations

Info

198 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA accorded to LDC members and liberalisation of tariffs by the developing countries in three years, the TLP is for bringing the duties to 0–5%. There is no such commitment to grant duty-free treatment to LDCs at the end of TLP. At the 14th SAARC Summit, the Prime Minister of India stated that as the largest country in the region, India was ready to accept asymmetrical responsibilities including opening her markets to her South Asian neighbours without insisting on reciprocity. He also announced that before the end of the current year, India would allow the LDCs among its South Asian neighbours duty-free access to its markets (in SAFTA Agreement the commitment is for bringing the duties to 0–5%. It will also further reduce the sensitive list in respect of these countries. As per this announcement, India has eliminated its tariffs to zero (duty-free) for the LDC members with effect from 1 January 2008 whereas as per the SAFTA tariff liberalisation programme, the reduction to 0–5% for the LDCs was to be completed by 31 December 2008. India is also in the process of unilaterally reducing its Sensitive List for LDCs. It is important that other developing members like Pakistan and Sri Lanka announce for providing a duty-free market access to LDC members for non-sensitive items. Secondly, the SAARC LDCs also do not compete with each other in their respective markets and therefore, even the LDCs should decide for grant of duty-free market access to each other at the end of the TLP. Lastly, for the LDCs a fasttrack mechanism for providing technical assistance, capacity building, providing equivalence, MRAs and accreditation for facilitating their export items would need to be evolved. Business to Business Interactions There is a SAARC chamber of commerce which aims for enhancing business to business interactions. However, given the fact that the intra-regional investment flows are miniscule, there is a need that this activity is given more focused attention and an institutional arrangement is built which provides that in the process of policy making, suggestions made by the SAARC chamber are accommodated by each member. Line of Credit Given the success of the Line of Credit that India has opened with Sri Lanka and its positive effect on trade and investment flows, one of the actions that can be recommended is to replicate the same with other members. Perhaps India can take a lead in this, as it is the biggest partner of SAARC. In this regard, priority should be given to LDCs which have weak purchasing power and have limited financial resources. Apart from the above action points, it would also be necessary that future research areas are identified well in advance, In this regard, the following areas for research can be recommended: • With the growth of regional trade agreements worldwide as well as in Asia, a study on impact of such RTAs on SAFTA needs to be carried out. What would be the impact of overlapping agreements on intra-regional trade, and how the different RoOs will impact the trade and investment flows in the region needs further probing. • The intra-regional investment flows have also been much skewed. A study on compiling data of the actual investment flows; impediments to investments; and suggestions to increase intra-regional investments needs to be carried out. The study should also suggest incentives or policy instruments that can be put in place to attract intra-regional investments. Country specific recommendations would be useful as there may be necessity to follow different policy measures to attract investments. • The impact of trade liberalisation on specific sectors like textiles, food processing industries and some of sectors of services can be carried out and disseminated. What are the lessons to be learnt and how SAARC members can benefit together needs to be examined. • A study should be carried out to identify the sectors where the backward-forward linkages among the industries can take place in the SAARC region. The study should also recommend how this integration can be made possible and what kind of policy instruments need to be put in place by individual SAARC members. • Informal trade being very important segment in SAARC, a field based survey needs to be carried out to assess its actual potential. The study should also make policy recommendations as to how they can be converted to formal trade and highlight the benefits that may be passed on to the members and consumers. • Food security in South Asia is a common cause of concern, what role SAFTA can play needs a deeper examination. In order to make SAARC a meaningful coalition and a strong economic block, substantial progress
W AY FORWARD IN SAFTA 199 towards its economic integration is very important. The complementarities on different dimensions need to be explored so that the entire region progresses and the benefits are balanced. Therefore, broadening the current SAFTA agreement beyond trade in goods to include areas of services and investment is equally important. Evidence from other regional groupings shows that investment flows play at least as significant a role as trade in promoting regional integration. While free trade alone will yield gains, these are unlikely to be great. However, dynamic long-term effects can be significant, particularly if combined with aggressive trade-facilitation measures, removal of NTBs, opening up the services sectors and, in particular, liberalisation of the investment regime. The full realisation of the gains of freer trade and investment would also require continuous and massive investment in physical infrastructure to connect the region more efficiently. A comprehensive action plan, therefore, is needed to make SAFTA a meaningful and effective regional trading bloc.
Page 3 and 4:
QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECO
Page 5 and 6:
QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECO
Page 7:
Preface Our consultations with seni
Page 10 and 11:
viii CONTENTS 7. Revenue and Welfar
Page 13 and 14:
Executive Summary OBJECTIVE This st
Page 15 and 16:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xiii Table 1 EAMA
Page 17 and 18:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xv India A full S
Page 19 and 20:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xvii indicates th
Page 21 and 22:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xix ments on basi
Page 23:
Part I BENEFITS FROM TRADE, INVESTM
Page 26 and 27:
4 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM E
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
10 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
2 Literature Review and Rationale f
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
4 Effective Additional Market Acces
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
6 Impact of SAFTA on Member Countri
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
7 Revenue and Welfare Implications
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
8 Impact of SAFTA on Inward and Out
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
9 Quantification of Benefits from T
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 115:
Part II BENEFITS FROM DEEPENING INT
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
11 Construction and Related Enginee
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
12 Tourism and Travel Related Servi
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171: 148 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM
Page 172 and 173: 14 Health and Related Services 1 IN
Page 186 and 187: 15 Prospects for the Telecommunicat
Page 223: APPENDICES
Page 236 and 237: Appendix 8 Intra SAARC FDI Collabor
Page 238 and 239: Appendix 11 Table A11.1 On an Emplo
Page 240 and 241: Appendix 12 Original Commitments/In
Page 252 and 253: Appendix 14 Table A14.1 Telecommuni
Page 258 and 259: Appendix 15 REFERENCE PAPER Scope T
Page 261 and 262: Bibliography Abelson, P. (1996),
Page 263 and 264: BIBLIOGRAPHY 241 Cuba (2002), Negot
Page 265 and 266: BIBLIOGRAPHY 243 (2004), Impacts of
Page 267 and 268: BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 Silva, Patricia an
Page 269 and 270: BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 (1998), Tourism Se
show all

Report

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?