SAFTA ministerial level meet begins

Kathmandu, Feb 26 (UNI) The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) Ministerial Council meeting kicked off here today to discuss the intra-regional free trade issues among the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries.

Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and other ministers of the member countries are participating in the meeting.

The meeting will discuss in detail the various issues of free trade in the region and present its recommendation during the SAARC summit to be held in New Delhi in April, a senior official said.

The SAARC ministers will also be discussing a report forwarded by the expert group on better implementation of the SAFTA agreement in a bid to promote and enhance mutual trade and economic cooperation among the contracting states.

In addition to the commerce ministers, over four dozen senior officials of the member countries are participating in the meet.

Advisor for finance and commerce, Bangladesh Dr A B Mirza Azizul Islam, Sri Lankan minister for exports, development and international trade G L Peiris and Humayun Akhtar Khan, minister of commerce Pakistan have already arrived in Kathmandu to attend the meeting.

UNI