Very little economic integration in SAARC region, experts say
View(s):While Europe and Asia – through ASEAN – is speeding ahead with economic integration, South Asia is crawling in achieving even a semblance of strong trade and investment deals with countries in the region, a regional conference of experts was told earlier this month.
At a regional conference on “South Asian Economic Integration- A Strategic and Economic Appraisal” which brought experts from the region together, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Executive Director Saman Kelegama said SAARC (the South Asian regional grouping) has made little or no progress on the economic front.
From left –– Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Jurgen Morhard and Dr. Saman Kelegama. Pic by Indika Handuwala
“One of the problems is that in SAARC there is no forum to discuss political and security issues. Only in the second track (civil society initiatives) are these issues discussed and then moved forward,” he said.
The conference was organized by Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) in partnership with the IPS and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). It brought together policy makers and experts from South Asia to discuss ways and means of bridging the gap between track one (heads of government level) and track two (civil society) dialogues of South Asia. The inaugural panel comprised National Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Dr. Kelegama, German Ambassador Jurgen Morhard, Dr. Mallika Joseph -Executive Director, RCSS, and Tomislav Delinic – KAS, Regional office.
Dr. Kelegama said that with the WTO multi trading arrangements in suspense, there are more and more bilateral and regional trade arrangements. The WTO reckons there are more than 350 bilateral and regional trade arrangements
He said there was discussion of an ASEAN economic community (like the European economic community).
The German Ambassador said for economic integration to happen it was important to cut through narrow business interests that tend to decide economic policy.
He explained the level of economic integration in Europe pointing out that 70 per cent of German exports went to Europe and 50 per cent of FDI (investments) came from Europe.
During the discussion, former Sri Lanka ambassador Nihal Rodrigo said there was a mismatch between think tanks (track two level) and governments (track one level). “They work only in parallel and don’t come together,” he said.
There was a vibrant discussion cultural exchanges and integration as a separate track or focus with many participants delving on music, art, culture and society and ways of fostering a South Asian cultural identity.
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