In his inaugural speech, Hon'ble Dr Posh Raj Pandey, Member, National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal said that the thrust of trade policy should be on the expansion of trade. However, he also mentioned that trade policy is not an end by itself but a means for sustainable development and raising the living standard of the population. He also mentioned that four factors impact the future of trade policy in South Asia namely; the issue of trade liberalisation, strengthening an open and just international trading system, human development and domestic trade policy.

Mr Gyanchandra Acharya, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Nepal stated that the stalling of the Doha Round of trade negotiations at the multilateral level and slow progress at the regional level in terms of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) including policy awareness at the national level have provided a background on which, this seminar should focus upon.

In his welcome speech to the participants, Mr Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Chairman of SAWTEE mentioned that the regional context of South Asia has been changing in the last 20 years with the signing of trans-regional agreements like the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), inclusion of Afghanistan in the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as well as the proliferation of bilateral trade agreements (BTAs).  He said that in this changing context, it is important for governments in the South Asian region to facilitate the participation of non-state actors in trade policy making. 

Dr Saman Kelegama, Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) said that the South Asian region as a whole was a latecomer in embracing liberal trade policies as a result of which, a lot remains to be done in terms of trade openness, global economic integration, and benefitting from the process of globalisation.  He also mentioned that the process of trade liberalisation for South Asian countries started in the 1980s with unilateral trade liberalisation followed by multilateral trade liberalisation in the 1990s and the signing of SAFTA in the mid-1990s added a regional dimension to the process of trade liberalisation in South Asia.

Dr Safdar Sohail, Director General of the Foreign Trade Institute of Pakistan said that while growth rates in South Asia have been impressive in recent years, increasing inequality in the region is alarming. According to him, South Asian countries should focus on establishing regional supply chains as well as address the link between trade liberalisation policies, poverty reduction and rising inequality in the region.

Lastly, as Chairperson of the inaugural session, Mr Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General of Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) mentioned the need for stakeholders to be well informed on trade issues besides the need for stakeholder consultation in trade policy making. He also emphasised that it is important for South Asian countries seeking concessions in the form of safety nets at multilateral, regional and bilateral forums to undergo an analysis of their own domestic trade policies.