Include private sector in sub-regional initiative: Deuba

Kathmandu, Apr. 17: Former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress Chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba Monday said that private sector should be involved in the South Asia sub-regional initiatives for trade and connectivity.

"There is a huge potential for BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) countries to engage private sector in facilitating trade through infrastructure development such as roads, airports, railways, waterways, ports, industrial zones, and integrated border management system," he said while addressing a conference on 'Strengthening cooperation among BBIN countries: the road ahead' here.

The BBIN Initiative is a sub-regional structure of four member countries which works in the areas of water resource management, connectivity of power, transport and infrastructure.

First concrete progress towards the sub-regionalism was made when the four countries signed the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement in June 2015 at the BBIN Transport Ministers' Meeting in Bhutan.

The BBIN-MVA permits the vehicles of member states to enter in each other's territory for the movement of people and cargo by obtaining electronic permit to make an entry.

As the BBIN provides a better platform for bilateral trade by linking four South Asian countries, it can open up untapped and unexplored trade possibilities in various goods, and services including tourism, energy, education, health, finance and logistics, said Deuba.

However, he maintained that in order to boost bilateral trade and facilitate transit, physical and soft infrastructure should be developed with priority.

"Though there is a strong demand for a deeper regional integration in South Asia, the progress has been rather slow. The actual implementation of agreements often does not match the declared ambitions, and in this context, lack of coordination, institutional weaknesses, resources inadequacies and capacity for implementation have been argued to be the major impending factors," he said.

Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, director general of Research and Information system for Developing Countries (RIS) – a New Delhi-based autonomous think-tank, also emphasized on the involvement of the private sector of in the connectivity initiatives.

Saying that the government should not alone remain in the driving seat in the regional initiatives, he posed a question, "Can we think of a BBIN wide transport company with shares of key truck operators in the region so that we avoid undue pollution and get the profits distributed in such a way that all share in the pie?"

According to Chaturvedi, economic complementarities, geographical proximity, political commitment, policy coordination and infrastructure development are the basic factors to make regional integration success.

"Adequate participation and cooperation of the public and private sectors are equally relevant," he said.

Member of the Board of Directors at the Institute for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR), Professor Madan Kumar Dahal proposed that the BBIN should be declared as one economic zone to expedite joint investments in potential areas based on comparative advantages and competitive edges.

"Sharing of knowledge and technology in potential areas is necessary to ensure a high, sustainable and inclusive growth in member countries. Equally important is to share experiences in poverty alleviation," he said.

Another member of the ISSR BoD, Professor Govind Nepal said that the enhanced cooperation and deepening integration among the BBIN countries would help to optimize benefits, reduce costs, increase efficiency and utilize platform to maintain the quality of public goods.

Chairman of ISSR, Professor Bishwambher Pyakuryal, said that the conference would discuss on strengthening cooperation and increasing connectivity among the BBIN member countries.

The conference is organised by ISSR in collaboration with the UN ESCAP, The Asia Foundation and Pavilion Group.