In view of the risk of losing international markets in the post-MFA era, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries should completely abolish import duties on clothing raw materials and develop their outsourcing trade, the World Bank recommends. The ending of quotas after 2004 will also create a new economic opportunity for South Asian nations, which should lower their tariff walls against their neighhours so as to develop clothing outsourcing through comparative advantage, says the Bank's Overview on Trade Policies in South Asia. South Asian countries should renounce protectionism in trade with their neighbours and open up their markets for clothing so as to become competitive in global markets after expiry of the quota regime. "High protection takes pressure off industries to improve their performance. Low cost, internationally competitive domestic textile and clothing markets will provide a much better basis for exporting to a more competitive post-MFA world", says the Overview, as published recently at a two-day workshop jointly held by the Bank and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies on Trade Policies in South Asia.
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