BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

SAARC’s POTENTIAL ROLE IN PROMOTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFGHANISTAN

Author: Mohammad Jasim Uddin & Mahfuz Kabir

DOI Link: DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2011v32n3a2

ABSTRACT

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has been playing a significant role to enhance economic development of the member states of the organisation. Afghanistan’s inclusion as the eighth member to SAARC has offered the country an opportunity to begin a process of regional integration in order to facilitate its peace, political stability, and economic development. Likewise, then try of Afghanistan in SAARC provides the organisation a gateway to Central Asia and beyond. Therefore, Afghanistan’s association with SAARC has reciprocal benefits for the country and the organisation as well. This paper takes an attempt to explore the potential role of SAARC to promote economic development of Afghanistan. It reveals that there is a range of economic potential that can be tapped from SAARC, which includes grater trade and investment, regional connectivity to remove isolation, alleviating poverty, attaining food security, and better utilisation of energy resources. Given this backdrop, this paper suggests that to achieve maximum benefits from SAARC, Afghanistan should reset policy mechanisms, foster trade and investment, infrastructural development, improve customs clearance ,and other facilitation measures including multi-modal transport. It should also develop its fiscal and tariff structure as well as improve trade negotiation skills to get benefit from SAFTA in which the other SAARC members can provide assistance. Moreover, greater confidence building, peace, and stability are required in Afghanistan to attract attention by the major players, both members and observers of SAARC, in economic development in Afghanistan.