Coordinated efforts are needed to cut inflation and increase trade in the south Asian countries, experts said at the daylong SAFA International Conference 2022 today.

The Covid-induced economic slowdown disrupted the global supply chain, which got further aggravated by the Russia-Ukraine war, they said.

In the post-pandemic world, when all global powers are rethinking about their value chains, South Asian countries must think about further enhancing sub-regional cooperation, they added.

They spoke at the conference of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka.

At the event, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said Bangladesh should now work for strengthening its regional connectivity and raise its trade with the South Asian peers to ensure sustainable growth on its way to becoming a developing country by 2026.

"We have many challenges. However, we can go forward by working together regionally."

There is no shortage of rationale for increasing regional trade cooperation among South Asian countries, said Bangladesh Bank's former governor Atiur Rahman.

The trade between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal increased by six times between 2015 and 2019, he said.

But still unexploited regional trade potential for Bangladesh remains to be as high as 93 per cent, he added.

To utilise the untapped potential, South Asian countries need to invest more on improving regional connectivity, he suggested.

Rahman made the remarks while presenting a keynote paper on regional connectivity for sustainable growth.

Prof Dr Javed Siddiqui of the accounting and finance division in Alliance Manchester Business School UK, gave a keynote speech on the event's technical session one moderated by Bangladesh Bank Board Director Mahbub Ahmed.

Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh moderated the technical session two where ICAB's Council Member Sabbir Ahmed presented another keynote paper on "Current trend of regional economy: role of Professional Accountancy Organizations".

ICAB President Md Shahadat Hossain also spoke.

ICAB organised the last SAFA Conference in 2019.