Afghanistan’s economic engagement with India will receive a major boost from February next when the protocol to make Afghanistan the eighth member of SAFTA is finalized. As member of SAFTA, Afghanistan will receive the benefit of zero import duty by India on 4536 tariff lines, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Commerce said here.
Inaugurating the Seminar on Doing Business with Afghanistan organized by FICCI, in association with the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) and USAID, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said, currently, under the Preferential Trade Arrangement (PTA) with Afghanistan, the rules of origin stipulate 50% domestic value addition for export within the South Asian region.
Once Afghanistan come under the SAFTA fold, this would come down to 30%. “This would mark a significant step forward for the Afghan economy and help boost its export to India”, the Minister said.
Mr. Jairam Ramesh also announced that India would undertake a review of the 744 items in sensitive list of export (largely in the area of agriculture and textiles), adding, “we are currently working on a review of the negative list particularly with regard to the least developed countries in the South Asian region – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Afghanistan.”
Responding to the observations by Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said investment is the key to increasing trade in the region. “What we need to import, you don’t export,” he told the Afghanistan business delegation, adding that in order to bridge the gap there was imperative need to promote Indian Investment in Afghanistan as much as in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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