The leaders of South Asian region should create an environment of faster investment flow into this region for attaining the benefits from global economic shift to Asia, said Indian state minister for commerce at a discussion in Dhaka on October 31.

The Indian leader, Jairam Ramesh, also stressed the need for regional integration through removal of trade barriers for future development of South Asia against the backdrop of the changed global economic scenario.

“We need a pluralistic democratic framework of the governments in this region for future development,” Ramesh said at the roundtable on “Global Economic Shift to Asia”.

The roundtable was part of the International Business Conference (IBC), organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) to mark chamber’s 50th founding anniversary.

Ramesh urged the governments of this region with a population of 1.6 billion to boost spending on education, science and technology in order to turn the huge population into assets.

He suggested that connectivity, especially the economic connectivity, between the South Asian states should be increased for their economic development.

“Bimstec, Safta and Asean may be the pillars of such economic connectivity,” Ramesh added.

“It’s a great belief in India that the country can bypass the regional globalisation. If India can’t connect it regionally, the Indian globalisation may not be sustainable.”

He said India removed non-tariff barriers on a variety of products of neighbouring countries to enhance trade and speed up investment flow.

The Indian state minister said his country provided duty-free access to eight million pieces of readymade garments from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Commerce and Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman moderated the session.

Export Development Minister of Sri Lanka Dr GL Pieris, Chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Rehman Sobhan, Secretary of Economic Affairs Ministry of Bhutan Dasho Sonam Tshering and President of Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Karachi, Pakistan, Tariq Sayeed also took part in the discussion.

GL Pieris urged the South Asian leaders to take advantages of global financial crisis for the future growth of the region.

“Diversity is a source of strength for this region,” Pieris said.

He said: “Intra-regional strength of investment might be a tool to tackle any kind of crisis where the South Asian countries would be able to extract reciprocal benefits.”

Terming Asia as the factory of the world, Rehman Sobhan said South Asia was emerging as the epicentre of new economic universe.

Now Asia is the fastest growing market of the world, he said.

“Dynamic support for domestic economic development, the way how China reduced poverty, can be followed also by the South Asian countries for achieving their expected development goals,” the CPD chairman said.

In another round of panel discussion styled “Does Bangladesh Have a Niche in Asia?” speakers called for utilising the advantages of demography for the future development of the country.

As a keynote speaker on the panel discussion Managing Partner of Asian Tiger Capital Ifty Islam said: “The fertile land washed by sweet water could be the world centre of original agriculture.”

Farooq Sobhan, a former ambassador, moderated the discussion session where Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan, president of Foreign Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Sayeeful Islam, former president of DCCI, Lutfey Siddiqui, managing director of Barclays Capital, Asia Pacific, Singapore, Anders Jensen, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, and Shahagir Bakth Faruk, president of British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BBCCI), attended the panel discussion.

Waliur Rahman said Bangladesh needs good plans for future economic growth.

“Our image outside the country is very bad. We should project good image of our country. The roles of Bangladeshi missions abroad are very critical,” Waliur Rahman said.

“Bangladesh is not a poor country, it’s actually a poorly managed country.”

Anders Jensen said Bangladesh needs to develop its capital market with a long-term vision.

“We should create a roadmap where we want to take the capital market,” Jensen said.

Shahagir Bakth Faruk said the country is running to a very positive direction.

“Many non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) now residing in England are coming back to the country which is a very positive side of the domestic economy,” Shahagir said.

At the concluding session of the IBC, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Nobel peace prize laureate, said some of the issues those need to be addressed are commonality of purposes in South Asia, common threat of climate change, uneven development across Asian and within Asia, the impact of faulty policies and erosion of natural resources.