The Nepali government has constituted a task force for implementing the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).

The task force has been constituted by the government with the objective of effectively executing the provisions of SAFTA, Indra Rasa Upadhyaya, convenor of the task force and Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, told reporters here on Saturday.

The primary work of the task force is to make necessary preparations for trade liberalization, he said

There is a provision under which the developing countries have to reduce the current customs duty by 30 percent and the developed countries by 20 percent within two years since the implementation of SAFTA, according to Upadhyaya.

The task force is working by giving the highest priority as to how best to promote Nepal's interests, Upadhaya added.

"The task force has prepared the necessary plan of action for promoting Nepal's interests and it will also review the list of sensitive commodities," he said.

As many as 1,300 Nepali goods have been enlisted as sensitive goods while this number has to be decreased to 1,000, according to Upadhaya.

The task force will also make necessary preparations as to which sector should be given the priority while proceeding ahead with the trade liberalization process, Upadhaya said.

In this regard, Nepal has already reduced the customs duty of a majority of the exportable goods.

Documents on the implementation of SAFTA from Jan. 1, 2006 were signed during the 12th Summit Conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation held in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, in 2004.

Source: Xinhua