Third OCM of SAARC-TIP concludes

The third Operations Committee Meeting (OCM) of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation -Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) concluded yesterday.
The meeting was organised by the SAARC Information Center (SIC) and GTZ. Horst Ammann, programme manager of GTZ/SAARC-TIP; Shridhar Gautam, director of SAARC Info Center (SIC) and Iqbal Tabish, secretary general of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) welcomed the participants.
SIC and SCCI are the main implementing and co-implementing partners (respectively) of the SAARC-TIP. Network partners of all SAARC member countries participated in the three-day meeting.
The meeting discussed areas of capacity building of the National Network Partners and suggested putting special emphasis on LDCs -- namely Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal -- with regards to capacity building measures.
Updates on the portal upgradation process, portal PR policy and promotional plan were presented apart from discussion on launching of the trade web portal. The date of the portal launch will decided at the Advisory Committee (AC) meeting. The AC -- representing SAARC Presidency, SAARC Secretariat and GTZ -- is considered a forum for communication and cooperation between GTZ and SAARC structures and meets twice a year. Neil Magedaragamage, representative of SAARC president Mahindra Rajapakse, observed the deliberations of the Operations Committee.
Coinciding with the OC meeting, a meeting of the information managers of the Network Partners was held in order to make sure that the content of the portal was being validated and that the managers understood the project concept, portal operations and their role in portal promotion. Additionally, a workshop on market analysis and trade information management was conducted for the OC participants by the Geneva-based International Trade Center (ITC), a joint facility of WTO and UNCTAD. Identifying export opportunities for products and markets and how trade indicators support investment promotion projects were demonstrated by the ITC trade experts.
The SAARC-TIP intends to establish an easy accessible trade database for traders by connecting trade databases within the SAARC countries to a common SAARC entry point for trade information. In order to achieve this objective to facilitate and promote trade among the SAARC member states, a common website has been established -- awaiting formal launch -- to connect different databases of network partners and identified data sources in all member countries to create an easy entry point for trade information.
Importers and exporters in member states are expected to make use of the decision-support Business Information Service (BIS) that will be connected to a network of information providers in SAARC to promote inter and intra SAARC trade.
GTZ, on behalf of the German government, has implemented the SAARC-TIP in recognition of efforts made by SAARC countries for regional economic integration. The project commenced following the exchange of notes between the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the SAARC Secretariat.