Walaupun sudah terbentuk kerjasama perdagangan bebas di Asia Selatan melalui mekanisme South Asian Preferential Trade (SAPTA) pada tahun 1995 dan South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) pada tahun 2006, tetapi nyatanya persentase nilai ekspor intra-kawasannya terhadap total nilai ekspornya ke dunia masih sangat rendah, hanya berkisar 4-6%, dibanding dengan Uni Eropa yaitu 57- 65%, ASEAN yaitu 22-25%, dan NAFTA 48-55% selama tahun 2000-2010. Berbagai hal menyebabkan hal ini terjadi, seperti tingkat komplementaritas (saling melengkapi) produk yang rendah di Asia Selatan. Artinya, kebanyakan barang yang diproduksi di kawasan itu sama, yaitu produk tekstil, sehingga mau tidak mau membuat mereka harus lebih berdagang dengan kawasan di luar Asia Selatan, terutama dengan AS dan Uni Eropa, belum lagi permasalahan politik dan keamanan domestik ataupun bilateral, seperti konflik India dan Pakistan. Melalui penelitian ini, penulis ingin menjelaskan penyebab rendahnya komplementaritas barang di Asia Selatan berdasarkan analisis daya saing industri domestik tujuh negara anggota SAARC melalui Lima Determinan menurut Teori Keuntungan Kompetitif Porter.

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In spite of South Asia free trade cooperation by South Asian Preferential Trade Agremeent (SAPTA) in 1995 and South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in 2006, there is still low percentage of intra-regional trade, especially export volume, compared with their total world export. However, its ratio percentage was 4-6% , whereas Eropa Union was 57-65%, ASEAN was 22-25%, and NAFTA was 48-55% within 2000-2010. The main cause is the incomplementary of their products export both in economy and political perspective. It means that they yield the similiar products, in particularly textile products, so that they have to relocate and sell their export products to outside regional countries, such as United States and Eropa Union, instead of making trade with SAARC members. Therefore this research attempts to explain the causes of low complementarity of South Asia products based on domestic industry and government polict analysis of seven SAARC member countries by using Porters? Competitive Advantage of Nations Theory.