D-Sector for Development Community

   Thursday, May 23, 2013
Agriculture - Duties and Rights - Education - Environment - Food - Global - Governance - Health - Indian Economy - Indian Society - Physical Development - Social Welfare - Water and Sanitation
  Tags :Learning|Publications And Reviews|Global Development|Global Economy|IMF and World Bank Print | Back
WB blueprint for Economic Cooperation in South Asia
02 Mar 2010

With a GDP growth averaging 6 % per annum, South Asia might have attracted the global attention but the region's wide internal disparity still makes it quite vulnerable and volatile.

There are two faces of South Asia. The first South Asia is dynamic, growing rapidly, highly urbanized, and is benefiting from global integration while the second South Asia is largely agricultural, land-locked, exhibits high poverty, suffers from many conflicts, and is lagging.The divergence between the two faces of South Asia is on the rise. Many policy and institutional constraints contribute to this dichotomy. One important constraint is regional conflict that has made South Asia one of the least integrated regions of the world.

Preface

The cost of weak regional cooperation tends to hurt the poor more than the other segment of the population. Two of the poorest South Asian countries are Afghanistan and Nepal; both are land locked. Several lagging regions in the larger South Asian countries of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are located in the border areas and suffer from lack of market integration. Over 500 million people, most of them very poor, live in the Indus and the Ganges-Brahmaputra river basins. These great basins are shared by six nations and are characterized by almost no cooperation and, instead, marked political sensitivity and tension. Several attempts to promote cooperation have failed. Climate change is predicted to have serious impacts on the monsoon, on river flows, and on the rising sea level, with increased incidence of floods and droughts in areas where current shocks already regularly and severely affect the lives and livelihoods of large numbers of people. The report looks at the many policy and institutional constraints that contribute to the present state and have made South Asia one of the least integrated regions of the world.

  • Part I: The Imperative for Cooperation Part I talks about the imperative for cooperation in terms of the development context of why cooperation is necessary for South Asia.
  • Part II: SAFTA and Beyond: Selected Cooperation Issues
  • Part II then looks in some depth at a number of specific areas of options and opportunities for cooperation, including trade, trade facilitation, transport, financial and food crises, migration, and tourism.
  • Part III: Private Sector Perspectives on Cooperation
  • Part III provides the private sector's perspectives on regional cooperation based on contributions from business leaders of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
  • Part IV: The Political Economy of Cooperation
  • Part IV deals with a number of political economy issues relating to distribution of gains from cooperation among participating countries and how to make South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) more effective in implementing agreed programs.

For the full report visit:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1192413140459/4281804-1192413178157/4281806-1265938468438/BeyondSAFTAFeb2010FullText.pdf

Write to d-sector  |  Editor's Note
  


 Other Articles by d-sector Team in
Global Development  > Global Economy > IMF and World Bank
 
 Other Articles in Global Development
 
 
Coke Nation

The news that Indians consume far less aerated beverages each year than their neighbours in Pakistan and China could be interpreted differently. In comparison to per capita annual consumption of 39 and 21 bottles of aerated drinks in China and Pakistan respectively, average Indian drinks just about 14 bottles in a year. For Coca-Cola this means a serious job at hand for which the company has announced an advertisement budget of $5 billion. For the company, economic growth of a country and its peoples' thirst for aerated beverages is directly coorelated. 

Coca-Cola doesn't consider 'negative' publicity for cola behind poor consumption of the aerated beverage in India. As per its books, brand Coca-Cola has registered consecutive growth for past 27 quarters and has been a leader with a brand volume of 30 per cent. For Coca-Cola the target is to turn it into a 'Coke Nation', on the lines of Mexico where per capita annual consumption is 745 bottles..Whether Indian consumer exercises restraint in gulping the drink whose health consequences are all but known, the flipside to the story is that  the state governments are falling prey to Coca-Cola's investment plans?
Waste Appetite

The clock has turned full circle! After dumping industrial and toxic trash in the developing world all these years, Europe is now shopping for garbage to keep its cities, schools and homes heated. What better place than the developing world to shop for garbage! Reports indicate that northern Europe needs more than 700 million tons of trash to keep its waste-to-energy plants running. Most of its current demand is either domestically met or from garbage shipped from southern Europe.Yet, the demand is far more than what neighboring countries can spare after meeting their domestic needs. 

As more waste incinerators are being built in Sweden, Norway, Austria and Germany to meet the growing demand for heating public places, these countries are left with two options - either encourage households to produce more trash or else import garbage from across the world. For sure, it is easy to import than to produce! A company in England is already shipping some 1,000 tons of garbage to keep its systems running. Since incinerators have cornered environmental controversy in India and for rightful reasons, there exists an opportunity to explore feasibility of exporting as much as 109,589 tonnes of garbage that piles our streets on a daily basis. 
Lead View
To pee or not to pee
By Sudhirendar Sharma
21 Apr 2013

 Sustained pollution of major rivers; continuous decline in groundwater reserves; priority allocation to non-consumptive sectors; and, growing disparity in water distribution only indicates that the worst is still to come!..
Book Shelf

Water Drops
Provocations for Development

River Dog
Psychology in the Bathroom
Commentators
-  Devinder Sharma
-  Carmen Miranda
-  Pandurang Hegde
-  Sudhirendar Sharma
Member Login
- New Member
- Forgot Password

Business Plan,Business Ideas,Advanced Energy,High Technology,Healthy Diets,Healthy Foods,Games Guides,Games Cheats,Export Business,US exports,Study Skills,Study Tips,Health Tips,Health Guides,Jewelry Stores,Jewellery UK Online  
Introduction  |  From Editor  |  Contact Us

Disclaimer  |  Terms & Conditions  | 
� Copyright 2009, All rights reserved with d-sector