Saarc trade info to ease regional trade

8 November 2009

Trade-related information of Saarc countries is just a click away now. This was made possible with the launch of Saarc trade info portal last month in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The portal, www.saarctrade. info, provides easy access to trade database by connecting trade databases within the Saarc countries to a common Saarc entry point for trade information.

Data from all eight Saarc countries have been collected and are being validated by 26 regional and national partners from both private and public sectors. The Department of Trade and Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) are the national partners in Bhutan.

Kesang Wangdi from BCCI said the forum is a platform that will facilitate and improve intra-regional trade. He said the information provided are validated and authentic.

Information appear to be available through the internet search engines but its quality and validity are not useful for business decisions. Businesses in the regions are, therefore, in demand for well-structured, aggregated and prioritised information in accordance with the need of producers and traders. The data available in the portal will be reliable to make business decisions.

The forum is expected to save time as exporters, importers, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the Saarc region would have access to information on a single platform.

The forum aims to provide business information services for importers and exporters including SMEs to make use of trade opportunities in South Asia. According to the portal, SMEs significantly contribute towards economic capacity of countries and are crucial for poverty reduction by creating employment and income generation opportunities.

Most SMEs in the Saarc region utilize only their market opportunities as they do not have adequate access to information on market developments, prices, exports and financial possibilities. The range of information offered by service providers in these regions are not always attuned to the needs of SMEs.

Kesang Wangdi said the portal delivers the referral information to find the right information for each country based on the most useful categories for business decisions identified collectively by importers and exporters and trade support institutions across the region. As a result of this initiative information providers could improve their services.

The business community in Bhutan could utilize the portal’s intra-regional network of relevant business information services.

First of its kind in the region, the portal is a product of the Saarc trade information project jointly implemented by the Saarc information centre (SIC), Nepal, and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

According to the portal’s initiators, since SIC and GTZ have access to reliable trade information they generate additional business. They have more and better information facilitates, and efficient and cost-effective ways to realize intra-regional trading and business opportunities.

As a result it would create more employment and thus contribute to the socio-economic development in the Saarc region.

Meanwhile, the fourth meeting of the commerce ministers of Saarc countries was held in Kathmandu last week. The meet focused on eliminating custom disruptions and critical list, among other issues.

The Minister of Economic Affairs, government officials, the vice president and officials of BCCI attended the meeting.