Towards South Asia economic union: proceedings of the 7th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES)

Presently, the challenges before the South Asian countries are to identify the ways and means of achieving regional integration on a fast track basis. The move from SAPTA (South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement) to SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) and now the proposal for South Asia Economic Union is a pragmatic move towards the next stage of cooperation. South Asian countries need to move further from trade liberalization measures alone to regional investment cooperation strategy, production integration, and technology cooperation. In the economic union and common market, macro- economic coordination also assumes greater significance.

The theme of the 7th SAES was “Towards South Asia Economic Union”. Several eminent scholars from India and abroad presented research papers at this Summit, and discussed a number of key issues that are relevant from the point of view of deepening South Asian integration. What emerges out of the deliberations is that the creation of South Asian Economic Union (SAEU) would prove to be a milestone in the regional cooperation efforts. The selected papers of the Summit are now presented in a single volume which will become a valuable reference for scholars and researchers as well. The papers of this volume also provide important policy lessons.

Papers include:

<ul>
<li>South Asia Economic Union: Challenges and Tasks Ahead </li>
<li>Challenges to Regional Services Integration in South Asia Services Trade in South Asia: An Assessment</li>
<li>Strengthening South Asia Value Chain: Prospects and Challenges</li>
<li>Potential and Prospects of Strengthening Transport Connectivity for Regional Economic Integration in Southern Asia</li>
<li>Connectivity for the South Asia Economic Union</li>
<li>Stimulating Intra-Regional Investment in SAARC: Is a Regional Investment Agreement the Way Forward?</li>
<li>Payment Systems to Facilitate South Asian Integration</li>
<li>Post-2015 Agenda and Regional Cooperation in South Asia</li>
<li>Regional Integration and the Post-2015 Framework: A South Asian Perspective</li>
</ul>