"The South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) process should be conceived as a part of the vision for establishing an economic union in South Asia. The vision should be explicitly incorporated in the (Safta) treaty," said a declaration here on Thursday.

The recommendation emerged following a two-day exchange of views among the business communities, civil societies and stakeholders concerned from the member states of the region.

Commonwealth Business Council in association with India-based Council for Social Development (CSD) and Confederation of Indian Industry organised the dialogue titled "Achieving SAFTA: Public-Private Partnership."

"The two-day conference reflects the desire of businessmen of South Asia," CSD President Prof Muchkund Dubey, former Indian foreign secretary, said at the concluding session of the conference.

He summarised the 11-point charter of recommendations for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) leaderships 22 days ahead of their 13th Summit, scheduled in Dhaka from January 9.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Awal Mintoo, who led a delegation from Bangladesh, told the news agency that the officially recognised Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry would consider the recommendations in its meeting scheduled in Dhaka on January 6, and finalise their recommendations for consideration at the Summit.

According to the conference recommendations, the Safta process of trade liberalisation should be compressed to 3-5 years after its commencement from January 1, 2006.

All non-tariff barriers should be identified within a period of one year and eliminated within three years after the process of tariff reduction begins.

The negative lists under negotiation should be of the shortest possible size and there should be a provision in the treaty for phasing them out within a specified period.

It is indispensable for the success of Safta to establish a large size fund to finance projects for human with special emphasis on women and infrastructure development and other capacity building projects in the least developed countries, the declaration said.

"A provision to this effect should be incorporated in the Safta treaty," it added.

The recommendations further said that India, as the largest Saarc country having the strongest and most diversified economy, should act as a driving force for Safta.

For this purpose, it should offer the LDCs duty-free entry to all the products of these countries, except those included in the negative list, during the zero period i.e. at the very commencement of the liberalisation process.

India was also urged to announce the removal of all restrictions on free-flow of capital to promote investment in the LDCs.

The treaty should have a separate section on investment, providing for a free flow of capital in the region and the creation of a Saarc Investment Area based on a maximum possible harmonisation of measures and measures for transport facilities and integration, the recommendations said.

The Saarc leaders have also been urged to include provisions for liberalisation of trade in services and the regularization of service flows, particularly in the areas of labour, education and health, already taking place on an informal basis.

The conference stressed the need for providing measures of deeper integration within the framework of the Safta treaty, particularly in the areas of investment, services, financial and monetary cooperation, coordination of macro-economic policies, adoption of common position on issue under negotiation in WTO, and joint and coordinated development of infrastructure.

"Adoption and implementation of these measures are indispensable for realising the vision of the economic union," it was stated in the declaration.

It suggested that technical committees should be set up on each of these areas of corporation, under Article 8 of the treaty, and the Committees should be asked to make recommendation for consideration at the next Saarc Summit.

To widen the Safta process, the conference also stressed the need for regional cooperation in three broader areas -- trade in goods (textile and garments, agriculture and agro-processing), trade in services (labour movement, financial services, IT and tourism), and trade facilitation.