Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Look Into Setting up Trade Portals
13 June 2016
Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka have expressed interest in adopting best practices of the Indian Trade Portal in setting up their own trade portals to promote international trade.
According to Mr. Ajay Sahai, Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations which maintains the Indian Trade Portal, the three South Asian countries are working on putting up a trade portal to share information on rules of origin, duties, and incentives to exporters. Trade portals to be set up by Bhutan and Nepal will be useful for cargo being routed through India, and will contribute to the common documentation system needed to implement the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement. Sri Lanka is in the process of examining how to make the initiative sustainable.
A high-level meeting to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in August 2016 will discuss trade portals in Asia.
The Indian Trade Portal provides comprehensive regulatory and business information through a single window to promote international trade.
The SASEC Customs Subgroup, attended by heads and senior officials of SASEC Customs administrations, held a learning event on the development of trade information portals on 25 May 2016. Experts delivered lessons learned from the experience of developing national trade information portals, and specific examples of the Indian Trade Portal and the Bangladesh Trade Portal were studied in depth. The meeting also discussed options for developing a subregional trade information portal under the SASEC Program.
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