The Twelfth SAARC Summit: Deeper Integration in South Asia

In: South Asian survey: a journal of the Indian Council for South Asian Cooperation, Band 12, Heft 1, S. 21-34

Abstract

The adoption of the Framework Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) at the Islamabad SAARC Summit imparted a major thrust to the movement for regional integration in South Asia. Advantages of an FTA are derived not only from the enlargement of the market and enhanced investment flows but also from measures of deeper integration included in FTAs. These measures include trade facilitation, investment, services, joint development of infrastructure, monetary and financial cooperation, cooperation in science and technology, harmonisation of macro-economic policies, structural changes in production patterns and common strategy for negotiating in international fora and with other regional groupings. The article summarises the measures of deeper integration provided in regional groupings of developing countries. It gives a rough sequencing of such measures along the path of regional integration. Finally, it analyses the scope, significance and prospects of deeper integration in South Asia in selected areas.