| Oct. 1, 2004 Senior South Asian financial leaders discussed breaking down trade and non-trade barriers in their region - the least integrated in the world - despite strong personal and cultural ties. The discussion built on the successful agreement for a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), signed by the seven countries belonging to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at their January 2004 summit in Islamabad. Â
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Mr. P. Chidambaram, India’s Minister of Finance, joined Pakistan’s Minister of Finance and business leaders from across South Asia to debate the benefits and challenges of deeper integration in the region.  Issues
· What are the benefits of regional integration?
· How can SAFTA lead to the kinds of political and economic gains achieved by other regional integration agreements? To what extent will further political agreements be necessary?
· How can the fruits of greater integration be equitably shared?
· What is the role of the private sector in sustaining regional integration? Moderator
L. Alan Winters, Director, Development Research Group, The World Bank, and former Professor of Economics, University of Sussex Panelists
P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance, India
Salman Shah, Cabinet Minister, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Pakistan
Naresh Trehan, Executive Director, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center, India
Babar Ali; Pro-Chancellor, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan
Farooq Sobhan, Former Ambassador; President and Chief Executive, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, Bangladesh |
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