South Asian Association for

Regional Cooperation
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka
South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation
 formally came into existence in 1985 with the
adoption of its Charter at the first Summit in
Dhaka (7- 8 December 1985).
 seven South Asian countries Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka
 Other regional experiences highly successful
 strengthen their competitive position
Areas of Cooperation
(21 - 23 April, 1981)
 first meeting of Foreign Secretaries in Colombo

 pursue cooperation in five broad areas

 Agriculture

 rural development

 Telecommunications

 meteorology, and

 health and population services

 identify other areas of possible cooperation

Objective
 acceleration of economic growth,
 social progress and cultural development in
the region,
 promotion of active collaboration and mutual
assistance in the economic, social, cultural,
technical and scientific fields and
 strengthening of cooperation among the
Member States in international forum on
matters of common interest
The SAARC Secretariat
 established in Kathmandu on 16 January
1987.
 coordinate and monitor the implementation of
SAARC activities, service the meetings of the
Association and serve as the channel of
communication between SAARC and other
international organisations
 comprises the Secretary General, seven
Directors and the General Services Staff.
Administrative setup
 Summits held annually, represented by head of the states
 The Council of Ministers comprising Foreign Ministers, meets at
least twice a year
 formulating policy, reviewing progress of regional cooperation,
identifying new areas of cooperation
 The Standing Committee comprising Foreign Secretaries,
monitors and coordinates SAARC programmes of cooperation,
approves projects including their financing and mobilizes regional
and external resources. It meets as often as necessary and
reports to the Council of Ministers
 The Committee on Economic Cooperation consisting of
Secretaries of Commerce oversees regional cooperation in the
economic field
 Agriculture and Rural Development Division
 Environment and Science and Technology
Division
 Economic, Trade and Finance Division
 Social Affairs Division
 Information and Publications Division
 Energy, Tourism Division
 Human Resource Development, Transport
and Treaty Division
Committee on Economic
Cooperation (CEC)
 implementation of specific measures, policies and
programmes to strengthen and enhance intra-
regional cooperation in the fields of trade and
economic relations.
 Its specific functions include
 analysing inter-regional and global developments
 evolving joint strategies and common approaches at
international forums;
 and recommending policies and measures for
promoting intra-regional trade,
 joint ventures, industrial complementarity and
investments.
SAPTA
 South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement
 Deals with Tariffs, Paratariffs, Non-Tariff
Measures and Direct Trade Measures
 In December 1991, the Sixth Summit held in
Colombo member countires agreed to
formulate an agreement to establish a
SAARC Preferential Arrangement (SAPTA)
by 1997.
 Agreement on SAPTA was signed on 11 April
1993 and entered into force on 7 December
1995
SAPTA
 The basic principles underlying SAPTA are:
 overall reciprocity and mutuality of advantages so as to benefit
equitably all Contracting States, taking into account their
respective level of economic and industrial development, the
pattern of their external trade, and trade and tariff policies and
systems;
 negotiation of tariff reform step by step, improved and extended
in successive stages through periodic reviews;
 recognition of the special needs of the Least Developed
Contracting States and agreement on concrete preferential
measures in their favour; and
 inclusion of all products, manufactures and commodities in their
raw, semi-processed and processed forms.
Trade Concessions Number of Products covered and the Depth of Preferential Tariff
Concessions agreed to by SAARC Member States in the first three rounds of trade
negotiations under SAPTA

Country # Products Depth of

concessions
Bangladesh 572 10% -15%
Bhutan 266 10-20%
India 2402 10-100%
Maldives 390 5-15%
Nepal 425 10-15%
Pakistan 685 10-30%
Sri Lanka 211` 10-75%
TOTAL 4951
South Asian Free Trade Area
(SAFTA)
 SAPTA first step towards the transition to a South Asian Free Trade
Area (SAFTA) leading subsequently towards a Customs Union,
Common Market and Economic Union.
 The Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was
signed on 6 January 2004 during the Twelfth SAARC Summit in
Islamabad.
 The Agreement into force from 1 January 2006
 Trade Liberalisation Programme scheduled for completion in ten
years by 2016,
 the customs duties on products from the region will be progressively
reduced.
 under an early harvest programme for the Least Developed Member
States, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are to bring down their
customs duties to 0-5 % by 1 January 2009 for the products from
such Member States.
 The Least Developed Member States are expected to benefit from
additional measures under the special and differential treatment
accorded to them under the Agreement.
South Asian Economic Union
 Eleventh Summit (Kathmandu, 4-6 January
2002) - economic cooperation
 Leaders agreed to accelerate cooperation in
the core areas of trade, finance and
investment to realise the goal of an integrated
South Asian economy in a step-by-step
manner.
Current Issues
 Working toward creation of SAFTA
 Leading subsequently, towards a Customs Union,
Common Market and Economic Union.
 Technical Committee on Transport
 Agreement on Investment
 Agreement on avoidance of double taxation
 Standards, quality and control group