SAARC


Trade in services in SAARC to be discussed in Oct
The Committee of Experts (COE) of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) will examine the proposal to include trade in services under the SAFTA agreement in October this year.
Meeting on SAFTA implementation on 20th
The first meeting of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Council of Ministers (SMC) will review and finalize the SAFTA implementation arrangements on March 20 at Dhaka.
SAARC countries signing bilateral, multilateral FTAs one after another
The South Asian economies including Bangladesh are becoming more and more regional trade-prone and they are going for bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) alongside regional arrangements like South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
Bimstec free trade pact set to come into force in July
The BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) free trade agreement is expected to come into force from July 1 this year, the Bangladesh Parliament was told Sunday.
South Asia: Burying quarrels for regional free trade
Will the seven countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) be able to sink some of their deep differences over political issues to enhance trade relations?
SAFTA comes into effect; Pak yet to ratify
South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), paving way for free trade of goods among countries of the region, came into being on Sunday but Pakistan was yet to complete the formality of ratifying it.
Trade under Safta from Jan in doldrums
With three days left to meet the deadline, the trade under South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) among the Saarc counties from January 1, next year is in doldrums as Sri Lanka says it will ratify Safta draft some time in April next year.
BIMSTEC countries to sign FTA early next year
BIMSTEC (Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Co-operation) Trade Ministers will sign a free-trade deal on goods at their Dhaka meet early next year.
Bilateral truths
When was the last time you heard Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talk about the World Trade Organisation?
Getting SAARCastic
While the temptation exists to conclude as many FTAs as possible - in line with the global trend - India's aspirations to become a global power will not amount to much unless it defends its exclusive zone of influence in South Asia against China.