Revitalizing South Asia SAFTA's Role in Economic Integration and Regional Prosperity

We are witnessing the fresh expression of regionalism, coupled with increased efforts to establish an international trading system. The idea of regionalism is becoming a dominant concept in our world today. A large portion of the world has benefited by embracing regionalism because it can be a means to preserve the integrity of the regional region. It is also thought of as a means to promote peace and harmony in the region. European Union is an excellent example of this type of regional integration. South Asia has the most significant number of people among all regional blocs of the world today, with 1.47 billion residents. SAARC attempted to create a sense of convergence in the region and eliminate the conflicting forces that emerged in post-Independence times. It was Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman that initiated the initiative and was later backed by other leaders in this region.SARAC was also created to enhance regional integration, which would bring peace, regional economies, and social and political integration in South Asia. The region has a rich history of strong trade and cultural bonds between itself throughout the centuries, up to 1947. In the 1940s, there was significant trade when most South Asian countries were part of a single political entity, British India. In 1947, over half of Pakistan's imports originated from India, and almost two-thirds were exports to India. However, in the years following, "as both countries were engaged in a tense dispute over territorial claims the valuation of currency, territorial claims, and distribution of water and distribution, the share of India decreased."

So, to bring back the old economic ties and further strengthen the integration of the economy of the region, A meeting was held at Islamabad in January of 2004 at which seven members from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) decided to establish a trade zone that would be located in South Asia. "The "Islamabad Declaration" is a plan to launch SAFTA on January 1, 2006, officially. The Agreement recognized that south Asia is a vast area with plenty of potential for further economic integration. Positively the treaty is regarded as an essential step in transitioning between the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) to the  Numerous arguments made for a resurgence of regional integration initiatives. It was the acceptance of the idea of regional cooperation in the region.

Cooperation between the Contracting States through inter-alia. The goals of the SAFTA are to strengthen the mutual trade system and to encourage economic.

Secondly, the Agreement demands the removal of obstacles to trade. It encourages the trans-border movement of goods among contracting countries, encouraging conditions for fair competition and creating a framework to facilitate future regional collaboration. It is governed by these principles, the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as reciprocity and understanding of the needs of the less developed SAFTA states (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives). Thirdly, to encourage fair competition within the free trade zone and to provide fair benefits for all Contracting States in consideration of their specific levels and models in terms of their economic progress. Fourthly, developing a practical method for the implementation and implementation of this Agreement as well as ensuring its administration in a collaborative manner as well as for solving disputes and

creating a framework for expanding regional cooperation and increasing the mutual advantages of the Agreement is another primary goal of the SAFTA.

SAFTA is also designed to assist in the field of technology and cooperation to aid LDCs in expanding the trade they do with Contracting States and benefit from the potential advantages of SAFTA.

The SAFTA agreement is expected to yield both political and economic benefits. There are numerous benefits with the SAFTA to bringing prosperity to South Asia by adopting liberal trade policies and encouraging regional trade mechanisms. Parties are more effective than bilateral FTAs(Free Trade Agreements). This is due to the widened range of complementarities, and they offer more significant opportunities to improve industrial efficiency. Yet, RTAs are generally less than ambitious and take longer to establish than bilateral FTAs because they involve countries at different stages of development. It is also possible to argue that a regional trading arrangement is the sum of all bilateral trade agreements of a single country. In this regard, it is possible to use bilateral agreements as an alternative to other regional trade agreements rather than as a substitute for them.

Regional economic integration that is deeper helps restructure industries within a region on the best-suited basis to build economies of scale and specialize. This can lead to the generation of revenue and spur regional economic expansion. Greater regional integration is beneficial to smaller or less developed economies in the grouping due to the transfer of industry to them, thereby helping their economic levels increase in line with more developed countries. for example, the poorest economies of the European Union, like Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece have rapidly joined with more developed economies of the region such as Germany, France or the UK .like wise weak economies of Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan will converge with comparatively stable economies of India Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

If the Agreement is implemented successfully, it will boost growth, increase cross-border investment and trade, and further improve regional stability. Additionally, it will bring about profound structural changes to the regional economies. One of the significant benefits of SAFTA is that its benefits are most significant when countries have relatively liberal economies. Thus, it is likely to create significant new trade opportunities if SAFTA is effectively implemented.

Peace and development are connected.SAFTA is anticipated to bring coherence between politics and peace resulting from the increasing economic interdependence. This was the case for EC, which had political motives prevailed over economic inspirations."Its purpose was to ensure that, by integrating the French and German economies, Europe would no longer be a victim of conflict." Therefore, it is even more significant for this South Asian case, where there is a sufficient amount of conflict between the two leading economies in India and Pakistan. The involvement of both nations in such economic agreements would add to the dependency of their economies between countries, which could exacerbate the conflicting political issues.

SAFTA requires improvement of its implementation institutions to build further the regional economy

Integration and capacity by speeding up the timetable for implementation of reductions in tariffs and reducing "sensitive lists" to increase coverage and setting rules of origin to aid regional integration while not limiting opportunities for growth in the region. They were broadening the scope of liberalization commitments to include the nontariff barriers to the issue of cross-border investments and the movement of persons across international frontiers. A regional framework will support such initiatives. Opportunities for collaboration between regions are enormous in the area of information technology-related services, certain public services (e.g. education, health), and banking. Find ways to compensate for the loss of revenue and provide assistance, strengthen the SAARC Secretariat, and Agree on the parameters for expanding geographically. These steps will assist in efficiently implementing SFTA, which is sure to create a new period of prosperity and progress in a poor region.