Thursday, December 1 2005 19:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a major effort to promote regional trade, India and six other South Asian countries have finalized the agreement on Free Trade Area, which is to come into effect from January One.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, who is in Brussels to attend the G-90 Summit of African-Caribbean-ACP (ACP) countries, made this announcement after receiving a message from Kathmandu where the Committee of Experts on SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) deliberated on the modalities of the agreement.

The CoE met to resolve the outstanding issues including compensation of revenue loss to Least Developed countries, on SAFTA to complete the negotiations as agreed upon in the SAARC Summit in Dhaka last month.

SAFTA signed at the Islamabad SAARC Summit in 2004 is to come into force from January One, 2006 and to be fully operational from 2016.

"Implementation of SAFTA will further strengthen our trade relations with SAARC countries," Nath said welcoming the finalization of agreement according to an official release.