The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman Sunday called for preparing concrete evidence to find the actual progress of SAARC in various fields including trade.

"We need to make an assessment of the progress of SAARC before going for further negotiations in this region," he said addressing the inaugural session of a day-long workshop on 'Trade facilitation in South Asia' at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon.

SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) jointly organised the workshop in cooperation with Friedrich Nauman Foundation (FNF).

Dr Hossain Zillur attended the inaugural session as the chief guest while commerce secretary Firoz Ahmed was present as special guest. FBCCI president Annisul Huq chaired the session.

The Adviser said that at seminars or workshops everyone is talking about various problems and prospects of SAARC. "But nobody came up with any evidence that SAARC has advanced this much and we have to go further… there is no evidence how much SAARC has advanced so far in different sectors including trade," he said.

Speaking about the non-tariff barriers (NTBs), he said, "This is a political issue; we have to get out ourselves from this and we have to focus on specific issues.

But he also admitted that coordination among the SAARC countries is yet to reach a convenient level. "The progress so far is not sufficient to give us comfort," he added.

Zillur also emphasized on the talks among businessmen of the SAARC countries to find out the problems, possibilities and potentialities of trade in the region.

He advocated for finding out specific and prioritized issues in the SAARC region to deal with trade which is not getting momentum.

Commerce secretary Firoz Ahmed in his speech advocated for easy movement among the SAARC countries and for adopting open sky policy in this regard.

Proper and effective links are essential among the SAARC countries which should adopt open sky policy, he said.

He also put emphasis on the regional transport agreement to facilitate regional transportation and exchanges.