An investment bank to manage the $1.3-trillion wealth of the South Asian diaspora can help supplement the efforts of SAARC, says an expert.

It is felt that the importance of the grouping has been eroded over the years due to political differences across the region, he said.

This is part of the ‘trilateralism idea’ mooted by former Bangladesh Foreign Minister Iftekhar Chowdhury at the second South Asian Diaspora Convention (SADC) in Singapore today.

Chowdhury said the bank could play a role in guiding South Asian diaspora investment, especially in the infrastructure sector, in the region which is a market of 1.8 billion people.

Chowdhury told PTI that the 38-million strong South Asian diaspora has an estimated wealth of $1.3 trillion and was looking at new investment opportunities.

The diaspora comprising 20 million Indians, 7 million Bangladeshis, 8 million Pakistanis and 3 million Sri Lankans, is estimated to save about $350 billion from their annual estimated earnings of $1 trillion.

Yesterday during his address at the SADC, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram called on the Indian diaspora to invest in India and be part of the country’s prosperity in his speech at the SADC yesterday.

Chowdhury said it is the right time to channel that investment to the South Asian region, given the many politically-impeded challenges being faced by these investors in placing their money in this vast region.

He is currently a principal fellow at the Institute of South Asia Studies (ISAS), the organiser of the two-day SADC which ended today.

The proposed South Asian Diaspora Investment Bank could be located in one of the international financial centres — London, New York or Singapore.

Chowdhury said the bank’s role would bring about a change in the politically-weakened SAARC and could give a big impetus to the regional organisation which has made little progress since its inception.

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