President- elect SAARC Chamber Ruwan Edirisinghe for greater regional trade integration

ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (APP):President elect South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Ruwan Edirisinghe Monday stressed the need for strengthening of durable collaboration among the SAARC member countries to boost trade and investment volume in the region and fade out chronic hostilities.
Talking to Vice President SAARC chamber Pak chapter Iftikhar Malik by telephone Ruwan Edirisinghe said that with more than one-fifth of the world’s population, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region is home to two-fifth of the world’s poor.
“The region accounts for only three percent of global output and two percent of world exports,” he rued.
He said he believed that “more Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) can be secured for SAARC if we collaborate, rather than unhealthy and non-productive competition.”
Even trade within the SAARC countries is less than 6 percent, which is a big question mark, he added.
He said an investment-friendly environment to promote trade in the region will be insured if appropriate steps are taken to remove trade barriers and streamline custom procedures, intra-regional trade in South Asia would nearly quadruple from the current USD 28 billion
to over USD 100 billion.
He said now it is high time for the member states to focus on establishing regional value chains or regional value platforms like the Asean countries to attract foreign investment.
They should also work to remove the restrictions for incoming FDI, such as scarcity of land to set up business, he added.
“To attract foreign investment, South Asia can also take certain steps to reduce corporate and personal income taxes in high priority sectors, subject to avoiding counterproductive regional
competition,” he added.
He further said in order to tap full resources, first of all three major challenges facing South Asia in process of integrating this region should be addressed immediately that include addressing
political interference, finding ways to restructure both production and export processes, and ensuring infrastructural development.
He said South Asia has tremendous potential in the global market and can seize the opportunity to become the next manufacturing and export powerhouse through the right mix of reforms and investments.
Iftikhar Ali Malik said South Asia will be home to more than a quarter of the world’s working adults by 2030 and should take advantage of a confluence of positive forces, such as favorable demographics, increasing education levels, growing cities, and
rising labor costs in East Asia.
“To realize this potential, South Asian countries should work diligently to increase regional and global integration, take advantage of agglomeration economies, strengthen firm capabilities, and improve the business environment.
Turning to Asia’s economic potential, he said “Asia is rising (and) it is the most competitive region, because it is the main source of global reserves and sovereign wealth funds.
Also, the capital of South Asian countries also lies in the region.”