South Asian nations seek help from India to set up trade portals.

NEW DELHI: India's trade portal has become a source of inspiration for its neighbours, some of which have sought help from the country to set up similar online platforms.

Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka have evinced interest in adopting the best practices of indiantradeportal. in, which makes available comprehensive regulatory and business information through a single window to promote international trade.

"Our South Asian neighbours like our trade portal and want to learn more about sharing information on rules of origin, duties and incentives with exporters," said Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, which maintains the portal.

He said that while Nepal and Bhutan are working on setting up their own portals on similar lines, Sri Lanka is still in the process of examining such a platform and making it sustainable.

Officials said a high-level meeting is set to take place in Colombo in August to discuss trade portals in Asia. In South Asia, only India and Bangladesh have trade portals at present. Besides providing information, the trade portals being set up in Nepal and Bhutan will also benefit India since many consignments headed for the two neighbours are routed from the country.

"India is a transit route for consignments going to Bhutan and Nepal, which are landlocked countries. So it is important to have information in a transparent manner," said Sachin Chaturvedi, director general of the external affairs ministry's think tank, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com