Arbitration tribunal between SAARC nations need of the hour

New Delhi, May 31 (UNI) To increase bilateral trade between the SAARC countries and to boost its dispute resolution mechanism, there is a need for an Arbiration tribunal between member nations, ambassadors of the SAARC nations said today.

''Trade liberalisation is not a panacea for prosperity. It is important to have the SAARC arbitration council operational as soon as possible,'' Bangladesh High Commissioner Liaquat Ali Choudhury said in a conference here.

SAFTA is a welcome step but to make it a success an equitable opportunity may be ensured to all trade, Mr Choudhury said adding businessmen from both sides should feel confident to trade and should follow fair trade practices.

''Presently, intra-regional trade among SAARC countries is less than five per cent of the total trade. In comparison, other trading blocks like EU and ASEAN have an intra-regional trade accounting to 25 per cent of their total income.'' The High Commissioner of Afghanistan Dr Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, on the occasion, called on Indian business community to invest in the country on the basis of the 2007 World Bank report on 'Doing Business' where Afghanistan has been ranked 16th in starting a business.

''Our strategic location and huge mineral deposit including oil and gas is yet to be tapped. The 2.4 billion dollar foreign investment is a testimony of this,'' Mr Raheen added.

Raising concerns on the issue of non-tariff barriers and sometimes arbitrary custom rules in India, Sri Lankan High Commissioner C R Jayasinghe said the Comprehensive Economic Policy Agreement (CEPA) being worked out will address issues like double taxation and relaxing the rules of origin.

The First Secretary of Maldives Ahmed Shahid pressed on investors to invest in his country as it does not have any income tax, capital gains tax or business profit tax.

He went on to add that his country allowed 100 per cent repatriation of profits to the home country.

UNI