Many Sri Lankan products can be exported to India, Pakistan duty-free
Sri Lanka’s Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade agreement and the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Agreement allow more than 8000 products to be exported to these two markets on zero duty basis, said the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Rishad Bathiudeen addressing a media briefing at the Hilton Hotel Colombo last week in connection with the SAARC Trade Fair and Investment Forum 2017 to be held in Colombo on September 7-9 in Colombo.
The Minister said the major issue facing SAARC nations was the brain drain where skills flow out of countries due to low investment and lack of joint cooperation among countries failing to foreign investments to the region.
Collaboration was necessary instead of competition to bring about better returns and a better understanding among all SAARC countries where trade is less than 6 per cent.
Lack of investment and integration in South Asia is the main reason for it.
“The other disadvantage was in obtaining visas to visit SAARC countries and this has to be worked out with all SAARC countries in the region.”
The SAARC Trade Fair and Investment Forum in which 115 foreign and local investors and entrepreneurs, fund managers and CO will participate, will showcase business opportunities for renewable energy, tourism, real estate and manufacturing, etc.
Several delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are expected to attend the conference. The event has been organized by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries Sri Lanka (FCCISL) .
President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry from Nepal, Suraj Vaidya said the next growth phase is in South Asia where 1.7 billion people live.
He said SAARC is an extremely complex and difficult regional body falling on smaller countries to show the way to achieve bigger things as the region moves forward.
Smaller countries should bring about unity and harmony among the fraternity in South Asia. Sri Lanka has been able to come up with solutions that SAARC countries had in the past.
“We look at SAARC as the fastest growing entity in the world which we can be proud of as the growth rate is roughly 7 per cent of the GDP,” he said adding that in job creation in the region, SAARC is luring investment to create jobs.
He said a book outlining 20 projects in South Asia has been published giving an insight into investment potential in SAARC countries.
He said security issues should not hamper the movement of people in South Asia and overshadow business prospects. A 2-year visa should be granted to businessmen in South Asia to engage in business activity.
Referring to infrastructure development in Kathmandu, he said 2700 rooms will come up in the city within the next two years.”But we do not have trained people to serve in these rooms.”