An Empirical Evaluation of Intra-Bloc and Extra-Bloc Export Flows: A Study of Select South Asian Economies

I. IntroductionSouth Asia comprises of bunch of emerging economies that are looking for strategic trade partners to strengthen the production; distribution; and supply chain channels (Manocha, 2023).As per trade map (ITC) database, a significant proportion of South Asia trade flows are reported from Asian economies but an insignificant intra-trade growth among South Asian economies is captured.In 2022, around 39% of South Asian exports were done with Asian economies and approximately 65% of South Asian imports came from Asian region but an intra-trade of less than 7% of the total trade volume among South Asian economies was recorded.To stimulate intra-regional economic growth and trade flows, South Asian economies came up with a regional cooperation, namely, South Asian Association for regional cooperation (SAARC) in 1985 and negotiated a preferential trade agreement, South Asian preferential agreement (SAPTA) 1) in