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186 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA accreditation, licensing and MRAs. The fact that MRAs negotiated by bodies with no governmental authority are most likely non-binding on states, does not mean that the requirements and other initiatives taken by such entities do not have an impact on the market. On the contrary, they usually are powerful tools to regulate market entry (Zarrilli 2005:16). If applied in the South Asian context and as noted in Tables 5.1 and 5.2, no country should insist on having a statutory body for each and every profession. In fact in the case of India, though the engineering profession is not regulated by a statutory body, there are two important professional associations working for many years to take care of this profession. Either of these two or both national professional bodies may be authorised to function as a regulatory body. Despite not having a legal body in place, India has received a provisional signatory status in the Washington Accord – an agreement between the bodies responsible for accrediting professional engineering programmes in each of the signatory countries. Similarly though Bangladesh does not have a statutory regulatory body for architects, the country has an institute of architects Bangladesh which is a professional institution engaged in the development of the profession of architecture in Bangladesh. Moreover, the Institute of Architects Bangladesh is affiliated with the UIA, CAA, and the architects regional council for Asia and the SAARCH. As regards licensing there are some professions such as architecture, medical, accountancy, etc., that require a license before practicing. In such cases, the relevant regulatory bodies need to have a common South Asian body which could set minimum criteria for smooth movement of professionals in all seven countries. However, care has to be taken for those countries where such bodies do not exist. In such cases the concerned government department can act as regulatory bodies. The available literature suggests that regulatory bodies exit in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bhutan. Although construction and related engineering services is the most important sector to have various MRAs to facilitate movement of professional and workers in all South Asian countries, the efforts to develop MRAs should not be limited to this sector Table 16.1 Architectural Services Restrictions in South Asia Expected to be removed by having MRAs Non-recognition of qualifications In architectural services there are various qualifications like bachelor of architecture, 4 year/3 year diplomas in architecture, BA (Hons) in architecture in Pakistan; 5 year bachelor of architecture in India, etc.MRAs among the regulatory bodies in these countries will recognise equivalent degrees/diplomas and facilitates movement of architects in the region. Non-recognition of standards Even in one country all the institutes imparting education in architecture do have the same standard and for India there cannot be one benchmark with regard to the standard all institutes follow. Hence architects from the best institutes in India may like to be equivalent to their counter parts in other South Asian countries. Thus ranking of institutes like A, B, and C, etc., may appear to be a solution to the problem of non recognition of standards. Non-issue of license to practice In view of the fact that if a profession is regulated, no one can practice it without a license, the profession of architecture is a regulated one in countries like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and in these countries an architect can practice only when s/he obtains a license from a body like the Council of Architecture in India, the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners in Pakistan and the Institutes of Architecture in Sri Lanka. Once such bodies develop MRAs architects from these countries will become eligible to obtain license for practice. Modal restrictions other than Mode 4 Though Mode 4 is affected most in the absence of MRAs, other modes are also somehow affected. A company may feel more comfortable to offshore (Mode 1) its architectural services to professionals whose academic and/or professional qualifications are in adherence with international standards or have been scrutinised during the process of negotiation of an MRA. A similar situation may arise when a client would like to receive architectural services abroad from such architects whose credentials are recognised. In Mode 3 also MRAs can be helpful. However, in the case of professionals providing services through foreign commercial presence (Mode 3), mutual recognition issues seem to be less relevant than for Mode 4, considering that in most cases the requirement imposed by the host country is that a local professional sign or certify the final output of a professional activity, though professional from different origins and backgrounds may have contributed to it.
CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND CONCLUSION 187 Table 16.2 Engineering Services Restrictions in South Asia Non-recognition of qualifications Non-recognition of standards Non-issue of license to practice Modal restrictions other than Mode 4 Expected to be Removed by having MRAs Not as varied as in the case of architecture, however, there are some variations if the qualifications in engineering profession. The problem of standard is more acute in the case of engineering than that of in architecture. In India for instance, there are hundreds of engineering colleges and along side it has IITs. Here not only the standard is different the course content is also not same. Engineering profession largely remains unregulated in South Asia though there are professional bodies in many countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc. as of now MRAs must first agree to the equivalence of qualifications and then these bodies s could be upgraded to become regulatory authorities. However, even without having the statutory power they may be engaged in negotiation of MRAs. There may be a difference in the degree of impact as compared with architecture, the supply of engineering services through other modes is also affected by not having MRAs. alone. In health, higher education and tourism – What about health? also there is tremendous scope for MRAs. As already noted, a significant amount of trade in health services is already taking place in the region particularly between India on one side and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal on the other. Developing MRAs could greatly facilitate movement of health professionals/ workers across the region. Possible MRAs in the sector can cover medical and dental services, veterinary services, and services provided by midwives, nurses, physiotherapists and para-medical personnel. As discussed in the chapter on education, almost all South Asian countries lack quality teachers and one of the ways to tackle this problem would be to allow movement of teachers and the other solution could be to develop intuitions to provide regular training to teachers with a view to upgrading their skill levels. Some institutions in Pakistan can be selected to provide training in management. In the hospitality sector Maldives could be a better place to train teachers and also professionals working in tourism business. In tourism education there are institutions now in almost all South Asian countries and here developing MRAs will greatly facilitate the movement of persons at various skill levels. In this case also the approach should be to develop minimum criteria so that the movement of tourism workers becomes hassle free. In addition, in the context of South Asia the economic imperatives warrant that we must bring down the skill ladder if all countries are to reap the benefit of Mode 4 liberalisation. In this regard, as given in the list of service providers (Table 16.3), persons having lower skill should also be covered. Further, mechanisms should be explored and more thought should be given to formulation of common norms rather than ‘harmonisation’. The following restrictions in South Asia are likely to be removed by developing MRAs among SAFTA countries (Tables 16.1 and 16.2). Table 16.3 List of Mode 4 Service Providers for Construction and Related Engineering Services S. No. Occupational Title 1. Building architect 2. Interior architect 3. Landscape architect 4. Town planner 5. Civil engineer (General) 6. Dredging engineer 7. Dock and harbour Construction engineer 8. Structural engineer (General) 9. Building construction engineer 10. Sewerage & Sanitary engineer 11. Soil mechanic & Piling engineer 12. Trenchless technology engineer 13. Quantity surveying engineer 14. Transportation and highways engineer 15. Electrical engineer (General) 16. Electromechanical equipment engineer 17. Electrical traction engineer 18. Power generation & Distribution engineer 19. Lift engineer 20. Air-conditioning & Refrigeration engineer 21. Cartographers 22. Carpenter 23. Electrician 24. Fixer/fabricator 25. Foreman 26. Mason 27. Mechanic-AC 28. Painter 29. Plumber 30. Technician 31. Welder 32. Supervisor 33. Surveyor 34. Fitter Source: CECA between India and Singapore and ESCAP.
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QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECO
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Preface Our consultations with seni
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viii CONTENTS 7. Revenue and Welfar
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Executive Summary OBJECTIVE This st
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xiii Table 1 EAMA
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xv India A full S
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xvii indicates th
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Part I BENEFITS FROM TRADE, INVESTM
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2 Literature Review and Rationale f
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4 Effective Additional Market Acces
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6 Impact of SAFTA on Member Countri
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7 Revenue and Welfare Implications
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8 Impact of SAFTA on Inward and Out
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Part II BENEFITS FROM DEEPENING INT
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Appendix 15 REFERENCE PAPER Scope T
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Bibliography Abelson, P. (1996),
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 241 Cuba (2002), Negot
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 243 (2004), Impacts of
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 Silva, Patricia an
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 (1998), Tourism Se
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