Seminar on ‘Trade Facilitation in South Asia: Addressing Barriers to Foster Trade Chain

A seminar on ‘Trade Facilitation in South Asia: Addressing Barriers to Foster Trade Chain,’ organized by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka and Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, took place at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo on 13th July, 2012.

Ashani Abayasekara, Research Assistant, IPS, made a presentation on “Improving Trade Processes and Procedures in Sri Lanka” at this seminar.

Procedural barriers have been identified as serious bottlenecks hindering the smooth flow of trade in the South Asian region. Various flaws in commercial, transport, regulatory and financial systems have led to the involvement of more procedures compared to other regional trade blocs in the globe, and has in turn had an adverse impact on trade facilitation mechanisms in the region. In this context, the seminar attempted to facilitate a dialogue between relevant stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, aimed at seeking solutions as to how procedural flaws can be contained and documentation requirements reduced through simplification of procedures to foster trade processes in the region.