With the fear of a double-dip recession casting a shadow over the global economy, South Asian nations must fend for themselves by stepping up regional efforts in trade, connectivity, energy and food security, a forum was told Sunday.
Top officials and experts at the two-day long Fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) said the eight nations that make up the SAARC should also strike close ties with Central Asia to tap into the latter's rich energy reserve.
They also called upon the governments in the region to issue visas more liberally, as increased contact among the peoples is key to foster ties and boost trade and business between the eight nations.
Private think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the SAES IV on 'Global Recovery, New Risks and Sustainable Growth: Repositioning South Asia' at a city hotel. Sunday was the closing day of the forum.
Member of CPD Board of Trustees and former finance minister M Syeduzzaman presided over the plenary session titled "Towards an Inclusive Growth in South Asia: Role of Regional Cooperation".
Chief guest Muhammad Faruk Khan, the Bangladeshi commerce minister, said the SA nations have failed to exploit the region's rich trade potentials owing to distrust sown by the politicians.
But in the wake of a sputtering global growth, the South Asian countries must set aside differences and bump up intra-regional economic ties to transform the region into a global growth engine.
"I believe close cooperation in economic and trade areas in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) will help boost the momentum of growth that we already witnessed," the minister said.
"There are ample reasons to make us optimistic in this regard. Our region (South Asia) is bestowed with tremendous untapped potential, and together we can explore and make the best use of it for our mutual benefit," he added.
He said that South Asia lived up to its growth potential in the last decade and the "prevailing scenario suggests that the region would continue to remain so in near future".
He regretted that the politicians had used trade to settle scores between the nations.
"Over the period trade has been used as political weapon denying the benefit to our common people. We need to get out of this unhealthy practice. We should keep trade and economic cooperation above politics," the minister said.
He hoped SAES IV will provide useful inputs for development of SAARC vision in the area of trade and economic cooperation.
Senior Adviser Minister for Economic Affairs to the President of Afghanistan Dr Sham L Bathija laid emphasis on people to people contacts in South Asia, which is home to one-fourth of global human population.
The visiting minister strongly backed issuing multiple visas for businessmen to make sure the entrepreneurs can move freely exploring new avenues of growth in the region.
He said as a landlocked country -Afghanistan- could be benefited if broad-based regional connectivity in South Asia is established.
Executive Director of Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) Dr Saman Kelegama said regional cooperation is necessary to alleviate poverty and improve quality of people's lives.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said warming bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India has played a crucial role in fostering recent cooperation in a raft of sectors.
"Good bilateral ties help build sound base for fruitful multilateral co-operation in the region," the governor said.
M Syeduzzaman said the governments of South Asia must take actions for reducing poverty and inclusive growth.
"Ensuring political justice, regional connectivity, cooperation on energy and power, employment generation in rural non-firm sectors are needed in South Asia," Mr. Syeduzzaman said
In addition, concerted efforts are a must for facing the fallouts of climate change in order to increase farm production for food security in South Asia, he said.
Director General (DG) of National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) of India Dr Shekhar Shah, Chairman of Druk Holding and Investments and former minister for trade and industries of Bhutan Dr Lyonpo Om Pradhan and Research Fellow of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and former adviser to the Planning Commission of Pakistan Dr Vaqar Ahmed also spoke.
Source: thedailystar.net
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