It's mistrust that hurts trade in South Asia

Mistrust among South Asian neighbours has hurt trade and cooperation for long and regional countries cannot help each other, without overcoming the barrier, said speakers at a conference yesterday.
The speakers stressed that enhancing bilateral and multilateral trade and cultural exchanges might be a plausible way out of the longstanding problem.
“Trade volume between Bangladesh and other South Asian nations is only 5 percent of our total international trade. And behind this, there is no major trade barrier such as tariff or anything. It's a psychological barrier, instead,” said AK Azad, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
“The governments of South Asian countries, especially India, should consider efforts to open up ways of more human mobility across the neighbouring nations. We hope it will not only benefit the neighbours, but also guarantee greater mutual benefits,” he said.
Azad spoke at the second South Asian Countries SME (small and medium enterprise) Forum Conference 2011, organised by the National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB) at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
Aftab-Ul Islam, chairman of SME Foundation, said the South Asian neighbours are not in a position to reap the full benefit of coexistence with each other because of less connectivity.
“We cannot tap the huge potential of inter- and intra-trade opportunities possible among our neighbours, whereas lifestyle and consumer behaviours are homogenous in all south Asian countries,” he said.
“Simultaneously, problems and prospects of the small and medium industries are also identical in these countries, which make a common ground of mutual cooperation,” said Islam.
Dilip Barua, minister of industries, stressed the need for finding solutions to challenges that the SME sector is facing now, including access to finance, high bank interest rate, and poor marketing facility.
A total of 30 member-delegates from eight countries participated in the conference.
This year, Bangladesh has been elected as the chair of the South Asian Countries SME Forum, which was established in 2005 in India.
The objective of the forum is to promote and encourage increased trade, commerce, investment, technical and economic cooperation among member countries of the Saarc [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation],” said Sheikh Mohammad Abdus Sobhan, president of NASCIB, and also new president of the forum.
Samir Gupta, the immediate past president of South Asian Countries SME Forum, and Ahsan Kabir, vice president of NASCIB, also spoke.