With its strong economic growth and rising purchasing power, South Asia is going to be key to revival of global demand and the world cannot ignore this region, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Speaking at a session here at WEF, leaders from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh said trade and common physical and social infrastructure are important to harness growth in South Asia.

They, along with business leaders from the region, also concurred that countries must focus on eradicating poverty, the common enemy.

With its vast workforce, strong growth and expanding purchasing power, South Asia will be the key to reviving global demand, Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said.

"The world cannot afford to ignore the region that will be key to reviving demand," she said.

Despite the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) annual summit being cancelled in 2016 because of a terrorist incident in India, Sitharaman said it is important to remember that the South Asian Free Trade Agreement is still going strong and has achieved major gains in intra-regional trade in the past few decades.

She cited border haats, or markets, on the India- Bangladesh border and the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway as other examples of increasing regional integration.

Sitharaman said industrial revolution can "give us answers" and help start-ups in India provide quick solutions.

"We have to be careful how we play it (industrial revolution) up in our countries," she added.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal motor vehicles agreement signed two years ago is another sign of closer ties within South Asia.

She emphasised that better connectivity of this kind will be an indispensable part of any strategy aimed at bringing nations and people together.

With 1.8 billion people, 7 per cent GDP growth rate and 25 per cent of the world's middle class, South Asia offers trade and commerce that can improve people's quality of life while also keeping peace in a volatile region, the panelists agreed.

Manvinder S Banga, Operating Partner, Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, UK, said as the world begins to de-globalise, there will be more opportunity for intra-regional trade within South Asia. 

Banga noted that countries must set aside political irritants and improve connectivity — a huge advantage for trade — as well as build common physical and social infrastructure. This can be a source of catalytic growth and enable countries to meet the common challenge of fighting hunger and poverty, he added.

Business can help catalyse social infrastructure, particularly through digital technology, Banga said.

He cited the example of education where information technology offers the opportunity to transform educational reach while reducing the need for brick-and-mortar schools and teachers.

Through digital technology, an entrepreneur needs much lower investment and even education to set up a business, Banga said, adding that "there is an opportunity for digitally supported businesses at an unprecedented scale".

Mosharraf Zaidi, founder and Campaign Director of Alif Ailaan – Time to End Pakistan's Education Emergency, Pakistan, highlighted the need for better education for the under-25 population that gives South Asia its unparalleled demographic advantage over other regions.

However, he warned that countries' over-sized emphasis on defence spending is leaving little to invest in building the region's social capital.

Also underlying the discussion was the subtle acknowledgment that political issues such as state-supported terrorism and the legacy of mistrust between nations cannot be wished away.