India to push SAFTA at SAARC Summit in Dhaka
Dated 9/11/2005
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New Delhi: Calling for boosting the process for intra-regional trade among the South Asian countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today felt that South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement be taken up as the forerunner of deeper economic integration in the region.
With just a few days left for the 13th SAARC summit at Dhaka, Dr Singh said that the South Asian countries should also take steps to improve physical connectivity by road, railways, inland waterways and shipping and air links to exploit the advantages of geographical proximity.
"They could evolve a common SAARC Transport policy to facilitate movement of goods across the region." he said delivering the P N Haksar Memorial address here.
"SAARC could also evolve a forum for annual meetings of economic or industry ministers to facilitate discussion on exploitation of complementarities in their economies for mutual advantage." the prime minister said.
Setting the agenda for the ensuing SAARC Summit, Dr Singh said, "we need to complete the process of SAFTA expeditiously, complement it by a by a SAARC Investment Area and move on to deepen it further by forming a SAARC Customs Union and then gradually transforming it into an economic union."
