Trade, Finance and Investment in South Asia

Trade, Finance and Investment in South Asia brings together nine papers by distinguished economists on the nature of trade in South Asia. Written lucidly by economists from South Asian countries these papers lend clarity to a problem that has confused many, making the volume indispensable to experts and accessible to others. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal figure prominently in this volume. The Maldives and Bhutan also receive attention. China, though outside SAARC, figures in this volume, in a comparison of foreign direct investment patterns between it and India. Trade performance has been unsatisfactory in South Asia, specially when compared to Southeast Asia. The papers in this volume dwell on the complex interrelations between the various trade policies, development strategies, social, political and legal constraints, health policies, and the timing of economic reforms in the region, to explain why this is so. The editor, in a very illuminating introductory paper, ‘South Asia in the World economy: some issues’, integrates the various arguments in the volume and explores the policy options for South Asia in a likely new World Trade Organization (WTO) round of multilateral trade negotiations.