South Asian CEOs to form regional grouping

South Asian CEOs to form regional grouping

Agence France-Presse
New Delhi

South Asian corporate chiefs plan to launch a forum to push
for free trade and investment in the region ahead of a seven-
nation summit in Islamabad, an Indian trade leader said on
Friday.

Ajay Khanna, deputy director general of the Confederation of
Indian Industry, said the chief executive officers will set up
the forum by video conference and draft a joint statement for the
seven nations' leaders.

"We want to build South Asia as a manufacturing and
outsourcing hub for the world. We want to remove all barriers in
the way of the tremendous intellectual talent here," he said.

"We are basically interested in a South Asian economic union
which can be achieved by harmonizing the industry standards," he
said.

Khanna recommended a regional bank to mold economic policy,
more cooperation in tourism and a lifting of restrictions on
people's movement within the politically troubled region.

He added that close cooperation will enable the smaller South
Asian nations to accelerate their economies as they would be able
to tap into the vast Indian economy which in the second quarter
saw booming 8.4 percent growth.

Hopes for strong trade in the region have been fanned by the
warming ties between India and Pakistan, whose rivalry has
repeatedly set back progress of the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

South Asian foreign ministers were meeting on Friday in
Islamabad to hammer out the draft South Asian Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) and an agreement on fighting poverty.

Only five percent of the international trade of SAARC
countries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka -- is within the region, Khanna said.

In comparison, it is around 65 percent in the European Union
and 22 percent in ASEAN, the Southeast Asian bloc, he said.

SAARC heads of state and government are due to open a summit
on Sunday for the first time in two years.