Posts and Telecommunication Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday urged the Saarc member countries to work together to cut cross border telecommunication tariffs. “I see the South Asian telecommunication market as a big market. We hope to work closely with our neighbour Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries to faster greater cooperation in reducing call tariffs with a view to forging a better network in the region,” he told the ninth meeting of the South Asian Telecommunications Regulators Council (SATRC) while inaugurating it at a hotel in Dhaka.

Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) jointly organised the five-day meeting.

The adviser said, “Our government’s stand is clear. We must continue to liberalise the telecommunications sector and go further in facilitating a congenial life in the region.”

He, however, said, “We should not be oblivious of national security issues.”

The adviser considers South Asia as the most promising region for telecommunication investment.

APT Secretary General Amarendra Narayan also stressed regional co-operation to provide quality network for to the people.

“We can increase our intra-regional trade flow if we can provide quality telephony network through hooking the South Asian countries on a common network,” he suggested.

Kinley T Wangchuk, chairman of SATRC, Toshiyuki Yamada, deputy secretary general of APT and Shaikh Khurshid Alam, secretary for the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications were present at the meeting.