 June 2016Indian entrepreneurs have invested INR 3,084.43 crore ($458.14 million) in Bangladesh, a move that has created 63,277 jobs, says Mr. Amir Hossain Amu, Ministry of Industries, Bangladesh. He also said Bangladesh is looking forward to being India’s partner in tech industries. Read More Tags: SAFTA, India, Bangladesh, Trade  April 2016Dr. Selim Reihan notes that drivers of political economy can impact the region's integration agenda. In this essay, Dr. Raihan highlights the importance of exploring the political economy of regional integration to generate a better assessment of the factors driving and constraining regional integration, and create broader awareness among stakeholders to stimulate a more realistic and effective regional policy design and processes. Read More Tags: Economic corridor, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, SAARC, SAFTA, Services, South Asia, Infrastructure, Trade Facilitation, Transport  April 2016A Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) dialogue on promoting trade in the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) subregion has discussed intraregional trade in South Asia, which remains under 5% despite implementation of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement. According to MCCI, non-tariff measures manifested as non-tariff barriers and para-tariff barriers lead to high transaction costs in cross-border trade, keeping trade volume low. Read More Tags: Trade, BBIN, SAFTA, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal  March 2016India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called for further consolidation of the South Asian Free Trade Area and the South Asian Trade in Services Agreement to achieve the goal of a South Asian Economic Union, in her address at the 37th SAARC Council of Ministers' Meeting. She said SAARC member countries must work together to harness their economic complementarities and create an environment conducive to rapid growth. Read More Tags: SAARC, SAFTA, SAEU, South Asian Economic Union, India, Trade Facilitation  March 2015The Government of Bangladesh will issue South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) certificates to allow South Asian countries to export at lower duty and receive duty benefits while shipping products in eight South Asian countries. The EPB recently decided to issue certificates to smaller apparel makers to help them export to neighboring countries and meet the growing demand of low-cost garments from Bangladesh. Read More Tags: SAFTA, Bangladesh, Trade  November 2014Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) has recommended the establishment of a South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Development Bank that would prioritize financing of regional infrastructure projects among SAARC member nations. Read More Tags: SAARC, Infrastructure, SAFTA  June 2012The SAARC Working Group noted that under Phase II all member states had already reduced their respective Sensitive Lists by a minimum of 20%. Bhutan India and Maldives had made substantial reductions in their lists which in fact were significantly more than the previously mandated reduction level. Read More Tags: Bhutan, Free Trade Agreement, India, Maldives, SAARC, SAFTA, South Asia, Trade |
