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SAARC economic union in Jan?

November 27, 2004 14:13 IST

Leaders from the seven South Asian nations might come up with more concrete steps in forming an Economic Union in the Dhaka SAARC summit set for January, according to officials.

"The issue of a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Economic Union would dominate the three-day meet set for January 9," the Daily Star newspaper reported on Saturday quoting unidentified official sources.

Four deals were likely to be signed aiming to proceed towards the economic integration of the seven member countries for their mutual benefit, the officials said.

Academics and scholars have been pushing for more economic, trade and people-to-people contact between member countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives - to take SAARC forward.