Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh should get trade in services interpolated into the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement to properly derive benefit from the existing deal and integrate effectively into the regional trade regime, says an economist.

'Bangladesh cannot hope for too much gains from the existing SAFTA treaty merely by promoting exports to the regional market,' Selim Raihan, executive director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, said at a seminar in Dhaka Wednesday.

SANEM organised the two-day regional seminar on 'SAFTA and its implications for the member countries' at the BRAC Centre Inn. Centre for Policy Dialogue chairman Rehman Sobhan, who chaired the inaugural session, said, 'It's not right to indiscriminately liberalise the market—only rational and gradual liberalisation is favourable for Bangladesh.

' The senior economist stressed the need for improving transport connectivity among the South Asian nations to facilitate trade and travel. Economist Atiur Rahman emphasised the need for political commitment and increased initiatives from the private sector and civic groups for proper implementation of the SAFTA treaty.

Keynote speaker Selim Raihan said SAFTA treaty was predominantly centered on trade in goods, and stressed that the treaty should incorporate regional cooperation mechanisms in the areas of investment, finance, service trade, trade facilitation and technology transfer. 'Creation of SAARC investment area through an agreement can create an enabling environment for regional investment,' added Raihan, who teaches economics at Dhaka University.

Ambassador Edwin Laurent of Commonwealth Secretariat, North South University professor AKM Atiqur Rahman and senior economist of World Bank Zaidi Sattar spoke at the seminar, joined by economists, trade experts and officials from the regional countries.

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