'Regional Economic Integration an essential precondition for a peaceful South Asia’ says Dr. Gerhardt

Dr. Gerhardt with President SCCI, Mr. Dorji (l.), Sen. Bilour (Pakistan) & O. S. Kunawar (India)

He was speaking at the 2nd SAARC Business Leaders Conclave on the topic of "Regional Cooperation: A Springboard for Growth and Job Creation" held in Mumbai from 17-18th February 2007. The conclave was organized by SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in collaboration with FNSt and the World Bank.

Dasho Dorji (l.) lights the lamp, while Ministers J. Ramesh, P. Mukherjee & Khorakiwallah, President FICCI look on.

Inaugurating the two-day conclave, the Indian External Affairs Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, urged the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations to address the issues of energy shortage, constraints of transit for land-locked regions of the sub-continent and overcoming high transaction costs due to poor trade facilitation across regions for the region’s integration.

Representing the business community of South Asia, Dasho Ugen Dorji, President SCCI, ted that the overarching agenda of SAARC was to eradicate poverty and establish peace in the region.

Paul Volcker with Praful Patel, VP World Bank

Protective policies, poor infrastructure, corruption and red-tape were some of the issues that were identified as barriers to growth. The benefits of trade integration were dwarfed by potential gains from regional cooperation in areas such as energy and water. Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, noted that while India and the rest of South Asia are being considered as “a big opportunity” for international finance and technology, there is an urgent need for good governance in the entire framework in which government and businesses operate.

Indian Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh assured the business community that India would play a more pro-active role in regional cooperation of SAARC. He identified connectivity and infrastructure as a main bottleneck in the rapid progress of the region. He also expressed concerns to include trade in services under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area), which till now only refers to trade in goods within the SAARC region.

The conclave focused on issues of freedom to trade without barriers, freedom to invest across borders, freedom to travel seamlessly, world-class infrastructure with open skies, open roads and open seas, joint development and sharing of energy resources and perhaps a common strategy to face the challenges of globalization.

The conclave adopted a 13-Points Policy Reform Agenda called “Mumbai Declaration” to achieve intra-regional trade of US $ 20 billion by 2010 for submission to the 14th SAARC Heads of State summit in New-Delhi in April.

The conclave was attended by five active ministers from the South Asian region and more than 250 businessmen and women of the region as delegates. In addition to the speakers mentioned, the audience was also addressed by, among others, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia University, New York), Graeme Wheeler (Managing Director, World Bank) and L.C. Dorji (Secretary General, SAARC).