Minister for Commerce and Supplies Rajendra Mahato today launched official SAARC Trade Information portal in the valley.
The portal will be a single point of access for all current SAARC-related business and trade information as it is will have data from all the eight SAARC countries.
It will also be continuously validated by 26 regional and national partners from both the private and public sectors of the region.Secretary General of SAARC Dr Sheel Kant Sharma and trade ministers from SAARC countries were present in the launching ceremony.
The initiators of the portal, SAARC Information Centre (SIC) and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), pursue the approach that having access to reliable trade information generates additional business because more and better information facilitates faster, more efficient and more cost-effective ways to realise intra-regional trading and business opportunities. As a result, successful business will create more employment and thus contribute the socio-economic development in the SAARC region, said the SIC.
The data displayed in the portal will be reliable to make business decisions. Business — especially Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) — of SAARC region can get much benefit from the information in developing their business and markets, it is hoped.
Showing posts with label SAARC-TIP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SAARC-TIP. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
SAARC trade portal to be launched on Thursday
A regional trade portal is set to be launched on Thursday.
"The internet-based information system that contain decision-support trade and business information from all the eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will help integrate the region," said Horts Amman, programme manager, GTZ, German Technical Cooperation agency that has helped develop the portal.
The easy flow of trade information will help increase intra-regional trade among SAARC nations that is at five per cent. The intra-regional trade among EU is 63 per cent and in ASEAN 38 per cent.
"The portal will become a vehicle to increase intra-regional trade. It’ll help bridge the gap between buyer and seller benefiting the both,” he added.
The idea of SAARC trade portal -- a break from the conventional trade channel in the region -- was floated in 2004. However, it started only last July. It took one-and-a-half year's continuous efforts and euro1.75 million, generously aided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to make a SAARC portal a reality.
The SAARC-TIP was officially approved by 38th SAARC Standing Committee, which was held in Sri Lanka. Initially, it was planned to be established in Sri Lanka but due to some technical reason, it is being established in Kathmandu as the SAARC Secretariat is in the Nepali capital.
"The trade portal will be under the SAARC information Centre," said Shree Dhar Gautam, director, SAARC Secretariat. "It has 27 operational network partners. These institutions will appoint information managers, who will be trained by the International Trade Centre (ITC) that will also be linked to the SAARC trade portal,” he added.
The project operation committee comprises of 25 national public and private sector trade related institutions, including SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the SAARC Information Centre under the direction of advisory committee.
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industreis (CNI), Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) and Federation of Small and Cottage Industry of Nepal (FNCSI) are the Nepali network partners.
The SAARC Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) is jointly implemented by the SAARC Information Centre (SIC) Nepal and GTZ under the advisory committee that is chaired by the representative of the SAARC presidency and represented by the SAARC secretary general.
The trade information service generates revenue and increase transaction volumes to sustain the operations. "The GTZ will support for the next one-and-a-half years. At present, the work is on revenue-generation models like charging subscription, placing advertisements, customised information certain commission, where two parties can trade via the portal that helps regional traders with diverse trade-related information,” added Gautam.
"The internet-based information system that contain decision-support trade and business information from all the eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will help integrate the region," said Horts Amman, programme manager, GTZ, German Technical Cooperation agency that has helped develop the portal.
The easy flow of trade information will help increase intra-regional trade among SAARC nations that is at five per cent. The intra-regional trade among EU is 63 per cent and in ASEAN 38 per cent.
"The portal will become a vehicle to increase intra-regional trade. It’ll help bridge the gap between buyer and seller benefiting the both,” he added.
The idea of SAARC trade portal -- a break from the conventional trade channel in the region -- was floated in 2004. However, it started only last July. It took one-and-a-half year's continuous efforts and euro1.75 million, generously aided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to make a SAARC portal a reality.
The SAARC-TIP was officially approved by 38th SAARC Standing Committee, which was held in Sri Lanka. Initially, it was planned to be established in Sri Lanka but due to some technical reason, it is being established in Kathmandu as the SAARC Secretariat is in the Nepali capital.
"The trade portal will be under the SAARC information Centre," said Shree Dhar Gautam, director, SAARC Secretariat. "It has 27 operational network partners. These institutions will appoint information managers, who will be trained by the International Trade Centre (ITC) that will also be linked to the SAARC trade portal,” he added.
The project operation committee comprises of 25 national public and private sector trade related institutions, including SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the SAARC Information Centre under the direction of advisory committee.
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industreis (CNI), Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) and Federation of Small and Cottage Industry of Nepal (FNCSI) are the Nepali network partners.
The SAARC Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) is jointly implemented by the SAARC Information Centre (SIC) Nepal and GTZ under the advisory committee that is chaired by the representative of the SAARC presidency and represented by the SAARC secretary general.
The trade information service generates revenue and increase transaction volumes to sustain the operations. "The GTZ will support for the next one-and-a-half years. At present, the work is on revenue-generation models like charging subscription, placing advertisements, customised information certain commission, where two parties can trade via the portal that helps regional traders with diverse trade-related information,” added Gautam.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Website for trade facilitation in SAARC
A common website has been established to connect the different databases of the network partners and identified data sources in all the SAARC member countries to create an easy entry point for trade information.
Though the website is awaiting formal launching, it is expected to facilitate and promote trade among the SAARC member states. Importers and exporters in the 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.
The first Operations Committee (OC) meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation -- Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) concluded here today. The two-day OC meeting provided an opportunity for its members to network with each other and to get to know each other's profile and functions of the organisation. In the two-day meeting, the OC members have agreed to support promotion and facilitation of trade in the region.
The meeting was organised by the SAARC Information Centre (SIC) and GTZ in order to make the OC members aware of the SAARC-TIP concept, modalities and its deliverables was participated by all the SAARC member countries including the SAARC Chamber of Commerce. The OC constitutes the SAARC Information Centre (chair), GTZ, SAARC Chamber of Commerce, national chambers of commerce, government trade agencies and trade-related organisations.
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.
Advisory Committee meeting was held last month to formulate the guidelines and suggestions for the OC that has representatives from the SAARC secretary general, SAARC presidency (currently the representative of the president of Sri Lanka) and GTZ/SAARC-TIP Programme Manager. It is considered a forum for communication and cooperation between the GTZ and SAARC structures and meets twice a year.
GTZ on behalf of the government of Germany has implemented the SAARC - TIP in recognition of the efforts made by SAARC countries for regional economic integration. The project commenced following the exchange of notes between the German government and the SAARC Secretariat.
SIC has been operating since 2006 with the main objective to act as an institution for collection and dissemination of information of the SAARC member nations and its activities.
Though the website is awaiting formal launching, it is expected to facilitate and promote trade among the SAARC member states. Importers and exporters in the 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.
The first Operations Committee (OC) meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation -- Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) concluded here today. The two-day OC meeting provided an opportunity for its members to network with each other and to get to know each other's profile and functions of the organisation. In the two-day meeting, the OC members have agreed to support promotion and facilitation of trade in the region.
The meeting was organised by the SAARC Information Centre (SIC) and GTZ in order to make the OC members aware of the SAARC-TIP concept, modalities and its deliverables was participated by all the SAARC member countries including the SAARC Chamber of Commerce. The OC constitutes the SAARC Information Centre (chair), GTZ, SAARC Chamber of Commerce, national chambers of commerce, government trade agencies and trade-related organisations.
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.
Advisory Committee meeting was held last month to formulate the guidelines and suggestions for the OC that has representatives from the SAARC secretary general, SAARC presidency (currently the representative of the president of Sri Lanka) and GTZ/SAARC-TIP Programme Manager. It is considered a forum for communication and cooperation between the GTZ and SAARC structures and meets twice a year.
GTZ on behalf of the government of Germany has implemented the SAARC - TIP in recognition of the efforts made by SAARC countries for regional economic integration. The project commenced following the exchange of notes between the German government and the SAARC Secretariat.
SIC has been operating since 2006 with the main objective to act as an institution for collection and dissemination of information of the SAARC member nations and its activities.
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