First Safta ministerial meet likely in Dhaka next month
Unb,Dhaka
The first meeting of Safta Ministerial Council of Commerce Ministers is proposed to be held here on April 20 to take measures for making operational the South Asian Free Trade Area that has been given legal effect since this January.For the council meeting the spadework will be done by the Safta Committee of Experts (COE), meeting on April 18-19. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the member-states of the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) to confirm their participation with composition of their respective delegation by March 27. Officials said the ministry has served the request letter, for the second time, to all Bangladesh Missions in Saarc capitals and all Saarc diplomatic missions in Dhaka, seeking their confirmation. They said India, the Maldives and Bhutan have already confirmed their participation, responding to the first call having March 10 deadline. "The meeting is to take stock of the progress in implementation of Safta," a senior official told the news agency yesterday. Although Pakistan has not yet ratified the agreement, it became effective since January 1st this year while tariff concessions under the agreement are scheduled to be effective from July 1. Besides the stocktaking of progress, the officials said, other regional trade-related issues, including arbitration council, promotion and protection of investment, and customs cooperation would also be discussed at the meeting.
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