Rising Food, Fuel Prices Become Major Challenges For South Asia

New Delhi, India (AHN) - Rising food and fuel prices are the major challenges for South Asian countries along with least developed and developing countries across the world in the current global trade regime, policy makers said in the capital on Wednesday.

India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath identified food and fuel as major challenges facing Asian economies while speaking at the inaugural session of the Third South Asian Conference on Trade and Development, held in New Delhi and organized by the Centre for Trade and Development (CENTAD).

The minister also called for providing a "social security net" to farmers and harnessing gains from agriculture through restructuring the sector to ensure greater movement of available workforces of agriculture into manufacturing and service sectors.

On the issue of climate change, the Indian minister criticized the inequitable pressure on India and China to reduce emissions, favouring the "common but differentiated approach" to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change and trade.

Charan Wadhva, Professor Emeritus of the Centre for Policy Research of India, spoke about the important role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in trade talks.

Muhammad Saeed, Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Switzerland, said the SAARC countries are not united and do not have a common interest although they have similar positions in most multilateral forums.

Former Commerce Secretary Suhel Ahmed Chowdhury said Bangladesh trade with the South Asian region is not very significant. It remained less than five percent compared to its total trade.

He also said growth in exports to India and Pakistan in recent years is encouraging. "Recent announcement by the Indian foreign minister might make things different," he said.

Muhammed Iqbal Ahmed, Research Associate of the Unnayan Onneshan of Bangladesh, said Bangladesh's exports are highly concentrated ready-made garments and the U.S. and EU markets.

In the opening day of the two-day long South Asian regional conferences on trade and development, policy makers, experts, academia and media representatives from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan took part.