South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) came into being in the year 1985 by the Seven Member Countries of South Asia. The main objective of the Organization is to strengthen regional cooperation i.e. political, social and economic amongst SAARC countries. The 25 years of standing of the SAARC is itself an evidence of the success of this Organization. In the past few years, SAARC Region has shown continuous economic growth. Despite the most disastrous global meltdown, the growth rate of GDP of South Asia Region is 5.6% which is highest in Asia followed by East Asia with 4.4%.

M.K. Nambyar SAARCLAW Centre was established with a very generous financial support by well-known Shri K.K. Venugopal Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India in sacred memory of his renowned father Late  Shri M.K. Nambyar.

The Centre has plausible Fellowship Programmes with special emphasis on Post Graduate education and also Training Programmes for Law Teachers/Law Officials/Judges of SAARCLAW Region. One important objective is to hold annual SAARCLAW conference and conduct Research Projects on various aspects of law on issues concerning the SAARC region. It also plans to Publish Newsletters, Journal and Books on SAARC and promote faculty-student exchange programmes with Universities in the SAARC Region.

In furtherance of its mandate objective, the M.K. Nambyar SAARCLAW Centre has planned a one day national workshop on “SAARC Trade Relations: Legal Issues and Challenges”. The workshop is for healthy discussion and debate on the further strengthening of the economic cooperation within the region and SAARC’s role in the development of international trade. Themes of the Workshop are:

1.      Rules of Origin (RoO) in the SAARC Region

2.      Trade Barriers in SAARC Region

3.      ‘Most Favoured Nations’ Treatment within the SAARC Region

4.      Dispute Settlement Mechanism under SAPTA/SAFTA

5.      SAARC’s Approach Towards WTO Issues

6.      Informal Trade in the SAARC Region

7.      Principle of Reciprocity and Non-reciprocity in SAPTA/SAFTA

This Workshop will explore the legal-cum-economic aspects of the SAARC and it will provide a platform for the discussion and focus recommendations on the need to strengthen the legal cooperation and capacity building amongst the Member Countries.

 Click Here to download the Concept Paper of the Workshop