Report

42 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA
India
India provides EAMA to the extent of 85% of its global
imports. Looked at from this point of view, India’s
sensitive list appears to be liberal. The products in which
EAMA is granted are those for which there is a high
level of import demand in India. Hence there may be
benefits of increasing or instituting production of these
products in other South Asian countries. When looked
at from the point of view of its bilateral imports from
South Asian partners, the EAMA into India is 92% for
Bangladesh, 97% for Maldives, and 90% for Pakistan.
All the other countries already have complete access to
India’s market in terms of this measure. This measure
gives a very optimistic assessment of EAMA for all the
three countries. However this may not be a good measure,
since regional trade has been historically confined to
few products, when compared to global trade. One
important raison d’etre for RTAs is that countries seek
to expand to basket of products in which regional trade
can take place. Thus looking at whether EAMA is
substantial in terms of global exports of partner
countries is important. When looked at from this point
of view it can be seen that the EAMA into India is only
18% for Bangladesh , 60% for Maldives, 57% for
Pakistan and 4% for Sri Lanka. Thus it may be inferred
that India’s sensitive list impedes EAMA in products
which constitute 82% of global exports. This is a logical
result, since a substantial portion of India’s sensitive
list consists of garments, which are the main products
of export interest to Bangladesh.
Maldives
Maldives provides EAMA to the extent of only 35%
of its global imports. That is to say, that Maldives’
sensitive list contain products which constitute 65%
of its global imports. However when looked at from
the point of view of its bilateral imports from South
Asian partners, the EAMA into Maldives is 26% for
India, 100% for Nepal, 33% for Pakistan and 26%
for Sri Lanka. Maldives did not trade with Bangladesh,
and Bhutan for the year under consideration
(2004).When looked at from the point of view of the
global exports of South Asian partners, the EAMA into
Maldives is quite substantial. It is 75% for Bhutan,
78% for Bangladesh, 69% for India, 82% for Nepal,
82% for Pakistan and 74% for Sri Lanka.
Nepal
Nepal provides EAMA to the extent of about 50% of
its global imports. When looked at from the point of
view of its bilateral imports from South Asian partners,
the EAMA into Nepal is 71% for Bangladesh and 82%
for Bhutan. India already has an FTA with Nepal. Nepal
did not trade with Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
for the year under consideration (2004). When looked
at from the point of view of the global exports of South
Asian partners, the EAMA into Nepal is minimal. It is
26% for Bhutan, 15% for Bangladesh, 40% for
Maldives, 23% for Pakistan and 21% for Sri Lanka.
Pakistan
Pakistan provides EAMA to the extent of 72% of its
global imports. Pakistan offers substantial concessions
in terms of this measure. When looked at from the point
of view of its bilateral imports from South Asian partners,
the EAMA into Pakistan is 69% for Bangladesh ,
47% for Bhutan, 86% for India, 100% for Maldives,
74% for Nepal, and 66% for Sri Lanka. When looked
at from the point of view of the global exports of South
Asian partners, the EAMA into Pakistan is 23% for
Bangladesh, 62% for Bhutan, 70% for India, 80% for
Maldives, 44% for Nepal and 28% for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka provides EAMA to the extent of only 35%
of its global imports. When looked at from the point
of view of its bilateral imports from South Asian
partners, the EAMA into Sri Lanka is 10% for
Bangladesh, 1% for India, 52% for Maldives, 82%
for Nepal and 8% for Pakistan. Sri Lanka did not trade
with Bhutan for the year under consideration (2004).
When looked at from the point of view of the global
exports of South Asian partners, the EAMA into Sri
Lanka is 92% for Bangladesh, 66% for Bhutan, 2%
for India, 34% for Maldives, 63% for Nepal and 50%
for Pakistan.