 |
Table of Contents |
 |
|
|
Country Assistance Plans - India
IV. Regional Cooperation
80. The increasing globalization of world economies has greatly intensified international competition and has, at the same time, given rise to a new wave of regionalism. Geographical proximity, economic complementarity, political commitment, policy coordination, and infrastructure development are factors conducive to formation of such groupings. Regional economic cooperation, as one form of coordination, could offer the South Asian countries significant potential benefits. In 1997, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal agreed to establish the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ), which will operate within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) framework. Given their development potential, focus was to be given to six sectors, including energy, multi-modal transport and communication, trade and investment facilitation and promotion, tourism, and natural resource utilization and environment. It was further agreed to proceed on a project-by-project building-block approach, covering bilateral as well as multilateral cooperation. Supplementing this Government level initiative, Chambers of Commerce and other representatives of private sector of the four SAGQ-member countries have formed a Private Sector Forum for economic cooperation. Following preparatory meetings of the Steering Committee, the first meeting of the Private Sector Forum took place in November 2000. India also has a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka, which envisages the gradual phasing out of customs duties on a wide range of goods traded bilaterally.
81. Reflecting ADB's key catalytic role in promoting cooperation in the subregion, a regional technical assistance (RETA) for the First Meeting of the Private Sector Forum is being provided. The RETA will facilitate focused discussion on possible areas of cooperation including energy and power, transportation, tourism, and investment facilitation and trade promotion. Another example of regional cooperation is the ongoing RETA for power exchange between Bangladesh and India. Initiatives in the gas sector can build on an earlier RETA for the Regional Gas Conference on Natural Gas Supplies to South Asia and on TA for gas sector masterplans (including imports) for Bangladesh and India. Further initiatives, such as electricity exchange between India and Pakistan, are being evolved within SAARC but outside SAGQ.
82. ADB is working with the Indian Government, as well as the governments in the other three SAGQ countries, to identify high priority projects that lie within national boundaries but which offer potential subregional benefits. As an example, ADB financed a TA providing support for the upgrading of the north-south transport corridor in West Bengal, as well as a small-scale TA on Establishing a Public Private Joint Venture for the West Bengal North-South Economic Corridor Development. Further support is being envisaged through a TA for inland waterway in West Bengal to strengthen the alternative transport system. An ADTA on Conservation of Indian Sundarbans and Poverty Reduction is being envisaged to assess the needs and opportunities for enhancing conservation in the Sundarbans, developing a strategic conservation and management framework, identifying investment requirements for poverty reduction and livelihood improvement through conservation activities, and recommending suitable approaches for financial resource mobilization. Support for biodiversity conservation in the Indian Sundarbans would offer further potential for enhanced cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the protection and sustainable development of this globally important but fragile ecosystem.
 Back
F. Private Sector Operations | Next
V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination |
|
Countries and Regions 
RSS Feeds
Top of page