SAARC wheels try to do what deals failed

Kathmandu, March 1 Though the meeting of SAARC commerce ministers this month failed to reach a breakthrough in trade ties, the business community in the region is hoping wheels will achieve what deals failed to when the first SAARC car rally kicks off from Bangladesh on March 15.

Business chambers in the region are hoping the 30-day marathon journey covering the seven member countries - Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives - will boost connectivity, people to people relations and investors' confidence.

Floated by Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka last year, the SAARC car rally is being implemented by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in partnership with corresponding business groups in the six other member countries as a public-private partnership programme.

What started off as a sports and social event is now being shaped as a boost to regional business as well with each member organising a mini business summit on the days the rally passes through it.

In Bangladesh, as the rally with 14 cars flags off from Cox's Bazar, the business meets will start with a conference on the promotion of trade and commerce cooperation.

While Bhutan is hosting a meet on information and communication technology (ICT), Nepal hopes to bring together energy experts from the seven nations for a seminar on energy efficiency, including hydropower. India is hosting a conference on the CEOs of South Asia while Pakistan is focusing on SME (small and medium enterprises) development.

'The rally will be a showcase for SAARC trade and tourism,' says Chandiraj Dhakal, chief of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry that is organising the Nepal lap of the rally together with Nepal Tourism Board and the ministry of tourism, culture and civil aviation.

'The motorcade will pass through the cities that are popular tourist destinations to highlight their potential.'

In Nepal, besides the capital, the rally will cover the sunny city of Pokhara, a popular tourist destination, and Lumbini in southern Nepal, where the Buddha was born.

However, it remains to be seen how effective the rally will be in promoting business or even good relations in the region.

Two of the member states, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are currently passing through fresh turmoil. Bhutan has been locked with Nepal for nearly two decades in a dispute over the repatriation of more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in Nepal.

This month, the much-awaited meeting between the commerce ministers of the region to boost the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement ran into a wall again due to the continuing feud between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi tacitly warning it could revoke the benefits extended to Islamabad if they were not reciprocated.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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