JANUARY-MARCH 2004, Vol. XVI, Nos. 1,2 & 3

Twelfth SAARC Summit Convenes in Islamabad

The Twelfth Summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) convened in Islamabad on 4-6 January.

     Convening in two years from the time when Nepal hosted the Eleventh Summit in Kathmandu, the Twelfth Summit meeting of the Association brought together the Heads of State or Government of the seven South Asian countries primarily to take stock of progress made by the Association since their last meeting and to agree on fresh initiatives to promote the objectives of the Association.

     Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan chaired the Twelfth Summit meeting of the Association attended by Begum Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Lyonpo Jigmi Yoezer Thinley, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan; Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India; Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the President of the Republic of Maldives; Surya Bahadur Thapa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Nepal; and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

SAARC Heads of State or Government during the inagural session of the twelfth SAARC Summit

     During the Summit meeting in Islamabad, the Heads of State or Government signed a Social Charter for South Asia. The Charter, which brings to the fore a regional dimension of action in the social field, sets out targets with a broad range of objectives to be achieved across the region in the areas of poverty eradication, population stabilization, the empowerment of women, youth mobilization, human resource development, the promotion of health and nutrition, and the protection of children.

     Promotion of economic integration in the region through the adoption of a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Framework Agreement remained high on the agenda of the Heads of State or Government since their Summit meeting in Malé in 1997. During their meeting in Islamabad, the Heads of State or Government witnessed the signing of the much-awaited Framework Agreement establishing a free trade area in the region. The coming into force of the Agreement is expected to herald a new era in improving economic relations amongst the seven South Asian countries.

SAARC Foreign Ministers signing the SAFTA and other documents on behalf of their respective Governments during the concluding session of the twelfth SAARC Summit in Islamabad

     The alleviation of poverty in the region is another area that received a focused attention of the Heads of State or Government at their Twelfth meeting in Islamabad. Among other things, the Summit meeting while considering the Report of the reconstituted Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA) directed it to submit to the next SAARC Summit a comprehensive blue print setting out SAARC Development Goals for the next five years in the areas of poverty alleviation, education, health and environment giving due regard, among others, to the suggestions made in its report.

     Likewise, another significant document that the Summit witnessed the signing of is the Additional Protocol on the Suppression of Terrorism.

     Other important issues that came under review of the Summit meeting of the Association pertain to agriculture, information and communications, health, environment and cultural affairs. The Declaration adopted by the Summit meeting is available at the website of the Secretariat at www.saarc-sec.org.

A view of collective call on the President of Pakistan by SAARC Leaders at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad on January 4, 2004

     The Twelfth Meeting of the Heads of State or Government in Islamabad was preceded by the preparatory meetings of the Twenty-fourth Session of the Council of Ministers, the Twenty-ninth Session of the Standing Committee and the Twenty-fourth Session of the Programming Committee.

     Launched at the first-ever meeting of the South Asian Heads of State or Government in Dhaka in December 1985, the Association aims to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life through accelerated economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.

     The Chair of the Association rotates amongst its seven Member States in alphabetical order, each of them assuming it at the time a Summit meeting is hosted by that country until such time another country hosts it. Pakistan is the current Chair of the Association following the convening of the Twelfth SAARC Summit in Islamabad.

     The Thirteenth SAARC Summit is to convene in Dhaka in January 2005.

Inter-Governmental Expert Group Meets

As mandated by the Twenty-fourth Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers, the First Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Expert Group (IGEG) on Investment, Arbitration and Avoidance of Double Taxation was held in New Delhi on 22-23 March.

     An Inaugural Session preceded the meeting. In his inaugural address, Shashank, Foreign Secretary of India, emphasised the importance of the early finalisation of the Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment in the SAARC Region, establishment of a SAARC Arbitration Council and finalisation of a Limited Multilateral Tax Treaty for Avoidance of Double Taxation.

     Addressing the Inaugural Session, Q.A.M.A. Rahim, SAARC Secretary General, expressed the hope that IGEG would be able to fulfill its mandate at an early date so that these trade facilitation measures could create a conducive environment for SAFTA to become effective.

     The Meeting was chaired by Prabhu Dayal, Joint Secretary (SAARC), Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India.

     In order to have meaningful deliberations, the work of the Meeting was divided into two Sub-Groups, one dealing with matters relating to Investment and Arbitration and the other dealing with matters relating to Avoidance of Double Taxation. Significant progress was achieved at the Meeting on the issues under discussion. The Sub-Group on Investment and Arbitration will meet in May while the one on Avoidance of Double Taxation will convene in November.

     All Member States attended the meeting. The SAARC Secretariat was represented by Rajiv K. Chander, Director and Subash C. Sharma, Program Officer.

Poverty Alleviation Cell Created

Upon the directive of the Twelfth SAARC Summit, a Poverty Alleviation Cell has been established at the Secretariat with Masud Bin Momen, Director as its head. The Cell is responsible for functions related to the following: Regional Poverty Profile; Follow-up on ISACPA Report; SAARC Poverty Alleviation Fund; South Asian Development Bank; MDGs; and other poverty-related issues.

SAARC Youth Award 2002 Conferred

SAARC Youth Award 2002 was conferred upon Dr. Masil Khan of Pakistan for his outstanding contribution on “Waste Water Effluent and its Effects on Soil”, during the Twenty-fourth Session of the Council of Ministers held in Islamabad on 2-3 January. The Award was presented by Khurshid M. Kasuri, Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

SAARCFINANCE Seminar Held

A Seminar on Promoting Financial Stability: The Role of Central Banks was organized in Kathmandu on 15-18 March jointly by SAARCFINANCE and the Bank for International Settlements, Basel, Switzerland. The representatives from all Central Banks of SAARC Member Countries attended the Seminar.

     Dr. Tilak Rawal, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, inaugurated the Seminar. A.S. Jayawardena, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, delivered the Keynote Address. In his address, Q.A.M.A. Rahim, SAARC Secretary General emphasised the important task before the Seminar. He also apprised the participants of the decisions of the Twelfth SAARC Summit for expanding trade and economic cooperation among Member States. Paul Van den Bergh, Head, Information, Statistics and Administration Group, Monetary and Economic Department, Bank for International Settlements made introductory remarks.

     The four-day Seminar aimed, among other things, to review and analyse the major policy and implementation issues focusing on financial stability, to review the measures adopted in the SAARC region and to discuss external vulnerabilities including the various dimensions of financial stability. The major areas covered in the Seminar were (i) importance of financial stability and major policy issues; (ii) banking system developments and stabilizing measures adopted in the SAARC countries; and (iii) micro versus macro dimensions of financial stability, banking system stress and external vulnerability.

     SAARCFINANCE is an inter-governmental body comprising Governors of Central Banks and Finance Secretaries of Member Countries.

SAARC-UNDP High-level Forum Convenes

The SAARC-UNDP High-level Forum on Poverty Reduction Strategies in South Asia was held at the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu on 1-2 March.

     The Forum was attended by, among others, the Secretary General of SAARC, Q.A.M.A. Rahim assisted by Directors at the SAARC Secretariat; UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, Hafiz A. Pasha; Planning and Nodal Agency Secretaries from SAARC Member Countries; Co-Convenor of Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA), Dr. Kamal Uddin Siddiqui and its Core Group members; UNDP Resident Representatives from SAARC Countries and other senior UN and UNDP Officials from New York and Kathmandu.

     The objectives of the Forum were to discuss: the report of the reconstituted ISACPA and to devise an effective strategy to implement its recommendations; the potential linkages between the free trade agreement – SAFTA - and poverty reduction in South Asia; the SAARC Social Charter in the context of poverty reduction; the SAARC Plan of Action on Poverty Alleviation adopted at the Twelfth Summit; and to provide a forum to consider strategic policy options for rapid poverty reduction in South Asia.

     This inaugural session of the Forum was chaired by Q. A. M. A. Rahim, Secretary General, SAARC on 1 March. In the welcome remarks, he highlighted the ongoing collaboration between SAARC and UNDP. The Secretary General mentioned that the High-level Forum would provide an opportunity to review and take stock of the progress made in poverty alleviation, and to draw up useful guidelines for future collaboration between SAARC and UNDP.

     Madhu Raman Acharya, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal recognized that the Report of ISACPA had put together a blueprint of future direction in poverty reduction in South Asia and appreciated the initiative undertaken by SAARC and UNDP.

     Hafiz A. Pasha, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Regional Bureau of Asia and the Pacific in his address said that the Forum came at the right time when the environment for peace and regional cooperation had dramatically improved in South Asia. He was particularly pleased to note the Twelfth SAARC Summit’s determination to continue mutually beneficial links between SAARC and other regional and international organizations including the United Nations, particularly in the field of poverty alleviation.

     In his Inaugural Address, Prakash Chandra Lohani, Minister of Finance, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Nepal, provided a brief review of the evolutionary process of South Asian economies based on different economic growth models and strategies. He stressed the need for a multi-dimensional approach with appropriate institutional frameworks to enable the poor to actively participate in poverty alleviation in the region. He mentioned that there was a need to evolve a strategic partnership involving all stakeholders to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability. He underlined the importance of more effective regional cooperation under the framework of SAARC.

     The Forum had an in-depth discussion on: ISACPA recommendations and follow-up activities;

Synergies among various SAARC framework documents (ISACPA, SAFTA, SAARC Social Charter and SAARC Plan of Action on Poverty Alleviation);

SAARC Regional Poverty Profile 2003 and preparatory work on Regional Poverty Profile 2004;

Regional Programme on the Macroeconomics of Poverty Reduction; and

Best practices from Past Regional Level Initiatives etc.

     The Forum underscored the need to institutionalise the SAARC-UNDP High-level Forum by way of holding it on an annual basis focusing on different themes.

Senior Officials Meet on Avian Influenza

At the initiatives of the SAARC Secretariat, an emergency meeting of Senior Officials from Member Countries on the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) (Bird Flu) was convened in New Delhi on 16 February.

     The Meeting was inaugurated by Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs of the Government of India. In her inaugural address, the Minister emphasized the importance of the meeting. She also stated that the SAARC countries could not be complacent about the situation due to the widespread nature of the epidemic. She called upon the Member State delegations to continue endeavours to address the threat posed by the disease.

     Radha Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, read out the message from Rajnath Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture at the Inaugural Session. In his message, the Minister underscored the need to put in the best efforts to prevent the spread of Avian Influenza in the region. He also emphasized the imperative to create mass awareness about the disease and to organize seminars to discuss its prevention to containment.

     In a message the SAARC Secretary General, Q.A.M.A. Rahim commended and thanked the Government of India for hosting the Meeting at a short notice. He also stressed upon the importance to work collectively to prevent further spread of the Avian Influenza in the region. He stated that the countries must learn from each other and consider collective measures to fight against the disease, as is being done in some other regions in the world.

     The Meeting stressed upon the urgent need to set up a SAARC Surveillance Centre and a Rapid Deployment Health Response System to deal with emerging and re-emerging diseases. It agreed to strengthen the mechanisms for surveillance, recording, reporting, diagnosis and management of the disease by exchanging and pooling of expertise and resources within the SAARC Member States. It adopted the New Delhi Resolution on the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) (Bird Flu) in controlling the spread of Avian Influenza in South Asia. The Resolution is available at SAARC website www.saarc-sec.org.

     The emergency meeting was attended by all Member States. The SAARC Secretariat was represented at the Meeting by Mohamed Naseer, Director and Sushma Rana, Program Officer.

SAARC-Canada Regional TB and HIV/AIDS Project Completes

The Fourth Joint Steering Committee Meeting of SAARC-Canada Regional TB and HIV/AIDS Project was held in the SAARC Secretariat on 16 March.

www.saarc-sec.orgThe SAARC-Canada Regional TB and HIV/AIDS project is a four-year bilateral project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which came to an end in March. The goal of the project was to promote regional cooperation to strengthen the capacity of the SAARC Tuberculosis Centre (STC) to support regional and national responses to the TB and HIV/AIDS epidemics.

Technical Committee on HRD Meets

The First Meeting of the Technical Committee on Human Resource Development under the Regional Integrated Programme of Action was held in Colombo on 4-5 March. The Technical Committee was reconstituted at the Twelfth SAARC Summit and now covers the subjects of education, skill development, arts, culture and sports.

     Besides reviewing the implementation of programme of activities relevant to its mandate, the Technical Committee made a number of recommendations for human resource development, increased cooperation in the field of culture and sports, etc. The Committee also made recommendations for implementing the directives of the Twelfth SAARC Summit and provisions of the Social Charter, that are relevant to its area of activities.

     All Member States attended the meeting. The Secretariat was represented at the meeting by Amjad Hussain B. Sial, Director and Nadeem Ahmed Bhatti, Program Officer.

Sub-regional Workshop on Millennium Development Goals

A Sub-regional Workshop on Disseminating the First Regional Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report was held at the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu on 28-29 February under the joint collaboration of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

     At the inaugural session of the Workshop, Q.A.M.A. Rahim, SAARC Secretary General while welcoming the participants to the Workshop, highlighted the importance attached by SAARC to poverty alleviation in the region. Referring to the Twelfth SAARC Summit directive, he said that ISACPA, besides its advocacy role, would soon prepare a comprehensive and realistic blue-print setting out SAARC Development Goals for the next five years in the areas of poverty alleviation, education, health and environment.

     In his address, Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, noted that the recently concluded Twelfth SAARC Summit had recommitted SAARC Member States to the eradication of poverty and achievement of MDGs. He said that the adoption of the SAARC Social Charter and the Framework Agreement on the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) during the Summit would create opportunities and new avenues for the masses in South Asia, particularly the poor people.

     Hafiz A. Pasha, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director , Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP briefly shed light on the Regional MDGs Report for Asia and the Pacific jointly prepared by UNESCAP and UNDP, which was being launched in South Asia under the auspices of SAARC. He said that the Report was the first and the only of its kind in the world and represented not only a unique example of cooperation between UNESCAP and UNDP but also the culmination of an intensive process involving, first, aggregation of trends revealed by the individual country level MDGs reports, most by Asia; second, oversight in the preparation of the Report by an advisory panel of eminent persons drawn from leading academicians and leaders of civil society; third, extensive discussions among a large number of UN agencies like UNICEF, UNFPA, FAO and ILO; and fourth, considerable interest and appreciation generated by the Report prepared for the Fifty-ninth Annual Ministerial Meeting of UNESCAP.

     In her keynote address, Erna Witoelar, UN Special Ambassador at–large for Asia and the Pacific, presented the mission and objective of the millennium campaign with target constituencies- civil society organizations (CSOs), parliamentarians, local authorities and media. She said that the millennium campaign in Asia and the Pacific, which commenced in September 2003, helps forge action-oriented coalitions with UN COs, UNESCAP, UNDP RBAP, ADB, regional organizations, CSOs and other partners.

     Bekh Bahadur Thapa, Ambassador at-large for Foreign Affairs, in his inaugural address, expressed confidence that the Workshop would help build a partnership amongst different agencies. He noted that the decision of the South Asian leaders at their Twelfth SAARC Summit to come up with SAARC Development Goals for the next five years would effectively contribute to achieving MDGs in the region. Speaking about Nepal's efforts in achieving the MDGs, he stated that the first MDGs Progress Report of the country along with the PRSP process had been completed.

     During the Inaugural Session, Kim Hak-Su and Hafiz A. Pasha signed the joint UNESCAP-UNDP Regional MDGs Initiative for future collaboration through two project agreements worth USD 5.4 million. At the end of the Inaugural Session, Mr. Thapa launched the MDGs Report for South Asia.

     The Workshop was attended by representatives from the government, media and civil society, UNDP, and the SAARC Secretariat.

     The two-day Workshop had in-depth discussions on various issues covering government, media and civil society in achieving the MDGs and made useful recommendations towards faster implementation of the MDGs.

SAVE Committee Meets in Thimphu
Video Documentaries on “SAARC in the New Millennium” to be produced

The representatives of SAARC Audio Visual Exchange (SAVE) Committee at their meeting in Thimphu decided on the production of a series of documentaries entitled “SAARC in the New Millennium” in a phased manner as well as holding of the Children’s Video Film Festival. The regular SAVE TV and Radio programmes for the year 2004 were finalised. To inject new concepts, the Committee decided to introduce debates from next year and the first debate programme will be organised by Bangladesh Television in 2005. A two-day meeting of the SAVE Committee was concluded in Thimphu on 13 March.

     The Committee decided to hold SAARC TV and Radio Music Festivals in 2004 on Children to mark the SAARC Decade of the Child. The Music Festivals will be coordinated by Sri Lanka.

     The Committee deliberated on the on-going SAARC TV and Radio Quiz programmes and decided that from now onwards students of high school would be participating in them. The Eighth SAARC TV quiz will be held in Sri Lanka and the Fifth Radio Quiz will be organised by India in September/October this year. Two joint productions on “Empowerment of Women” for Radio and “Environmental Conservation” for TV were agreed upon for the current year. It was decided that the First SAARC Music Award would be presented at the Award Ceremony coinciding with the Twenty-fifth Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers to be held in July 2004 in Islamabad.

     In order to introduce new tools of technology for enhancing SAARC publicity, the Committee deliberated on simultaneous/auto translation of SAVE programmes into national languages of member countries; making national TV channels of SAARC countries available to public through cable TV service providers; and introducing teleconferencing/ radio-bridging for future SAVE programmes.

     Lyonpo Leki Dorji, Minister for Information and Communications of Bhutan inaugurated the meeting. The Secretary General of SAARC, Q.A.M.A. Rahim also sent a message to the meeting.

     The meeting was attended by representatives of national TV and Radio organisations from all member countries. The SAARC Secretariat was represented by P. B. Shah, Director and Muhammad Yousaf, Program Officer.

Harmonization of Macro Policies on Energy Discussed

Pursuant to the recommendation of the Second Meeting of the SAARC Technical Committee on Energy, a SAARC Workshop on Harmonization of Macro Policies was held in New Delhi on 15-16 March.

     The Workshop was attended by all member countries. The SAARC Secretariat was represented at the Workshop by C.A.H.M. Wijeratne, Director. The Workshop was inaugurated by R.V. Shahi, Secretary (Power) of India. In his inaugural statement, he outlined some common challenges faced by SAARC Member States, which, among others, included electrification of a large number of house holds; shortage of power; loss in the process; scarcity of resources; reliability of power supply; and improvement in quality of services. He further stated that the Year 2003 was a remarkable year for India because India enacted Electricity Act 2003 to address the pressing issues after an extensive consultation with all concerned sectors in the society.

     The Workshop focused its deliberations on: (i) Legal and Policy framework for development of power supply industry, status and level of development of electricity industries, policy measures to attract investment for the sector with special reference to policy regarding FDI, framework for tariff determination and subsidy related issues, and measures being adopted for protection of consumer’s interest and quality standards. (ii) Transmission Grid Management System and related issues, Grid standards like frequency, voltage etc., and code of practices for connecting to the system, role of different entities like Load Despatch Centre, transmission utilities etc., commercial issues like metering of energy and sharing of different charges, and Grid related information system and sharing of information with stake holders.

     The Workshop recommended, among others, the following: evaluation of energy efficiency policies and measures; institutional development; development of codes; standards and labeling for electrical appliances; energy audits; fiscal incentives; implementation of an energy efficiency programme; and sharing of information in public domain through website.

     This Report together with its recommendations will be submitted to the First Meeting of the Working Group on Energy to be held in Pakistan.

SAARC - UNDP Hold Consultations

On 2 March 2004, SAARC held a Meeting with UNDP on the guidelines for the future collaboration between the two organizations. The Secretariat side was led by the SAARC Secretary General, assisted by the Directors. The UNDP side was led by Hafiz A. Pasha, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Regional Bureau of Asia and the Pacific and was assisted by Resident Representatives of UNDP from SAARC Countries and other UNDP officials.

     The SAARC Secretary General, Q.A.M.A. Rahim highlighted the ongoing collaboration between SAARC and UNDP. He said that the meeting would provide an opportunity to review the MoU signed between SAARC and UNDP in 1995, to take stock of the progress made in collaboration, and to draw up useful guidelines for future collaboration between SAARC and UNDP. He also clarified that any agreement that is reached in the meeting will be subject to approval of the SAARC Standing Committee comprising the Foreign Secretaries of Member States.

     Hafiz A. Pasha said that he was pleased to note the Twelfth SAARC Summit’s decision to continue to collaborate with international organizations and UN agencies in the field of poverty alleviation. Referring to the successful partnership of UNDP with ASEAN, he expressed UNDP’s great interest to strengthen the on-going collaborative activities with the SAARC. He also stressed that SAARC-UNDP Partnership reflects the shared conviction that a South Asia without poverty and hunger is within one’s grasp and that SAARC and UNDP have a central role to play in its creation. The officials from the SAARC Secretariat briefed UNDP participants on SAARC, its Regional Centres and future activities. This was followed by a brief presentation on the SAARC-UNDP on-going collaborative activities including Regional Poverty Profile, High-level Forum and support to development of SAARC-ASEAN collaborative activities.

     Discussions were held on various proposals for collaboration between SAARC and UNDP including strengthening Poverty Alleviation Cell in the SAARC Secretariat, supporting ISACPA and its follow-up activities including its advocacy role and developing South Asian Development Goals, and blue print for achieving them, supporting SAARC Regional Centres, supporting SAARC Agenda at national levels (e.g., RPP, dissemination of ISACPA Report, best practices data bank, etc.), supporting capacity development in the area of trade negotiation in the SAARC Member Countries (particularly LDCs), supporting implementation of the SAARC Social Charter, etc.

New Regional Centres Established

The following three new Regional Centres are being established under the SAARC umbrella:

• SAARC Cultural Centre, Sri Lanka,
• SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre, Maldives, and
• SAARC Information Centre in Nepal.

Regional high-level Roundtable Held

The Roundtable was jointly organized by FAO, UNESCAP and ADB. The Minister of Agriculture of Thailand opened the Roundtable and read out the statement on behalf of the Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra. Ministers of Agriculture from Nepal and Bangladesh participated at the Roundtable. Besides, several Ministers from ASEAN countries attended the Roundtable. Prime Minister of Nieu, Young M. Vivian, M.P. was elected Chairman. The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Keng Yong Ong also attended the Roundtable. Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Secretariat was represented by its Director, Aleki Sisifa.

     The Secretary General of SAARC attended the two-day Regional High Level Round Table Meeting in Bangkok on 23-24 February. The Secretary General in his address mentioned that hunger was not only debilitating but it was also destabilizing with serious implications for peace and orderly progress of national societies, which was a threat to the stability of the international community. He, inter-alia, invited the attention to the complex nature of the continued threat posed by food insecurity of a sizeable segment of the population of South Asia. The Secretary General also acted as a moderator of the Session entitled “Overview on the incidence, nature and causes of poverty and food insecurity in the region, with analysis of progress in achieving the MDGs” on 23 February.

     The Roundtable discussed various issues related to food security, poverty alleviation and progress made in realizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which came out with a Declaration and was adopted at the Concluding Session.

     The SAARC Secretary General had a bilateral meeting with the Director-General of FAO, Jacques Diouf. They discussed the possibility of future collaboration between the two organizations.

Secretary General’s Round of Meetings

In the first quarter of the year 2004 a large number of activities and meetings took place at the Secretariat in which the Secretary General was present.

     Soon after return from Islamabad, the Secretary General met the media personnel based in Kathmandu on 14 January during which he briefed them on the outcome of the Twelfth Summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). All Directors of the Secretariat were present at the media briefing organized at the Secretariat.

     The Twelfth Summit in Islamabad expressed determination to develop mutually beneficial links between SAARC and other regional and international organizations as also the countries outside the region. Following this directive of the Summit, the Secretary General had had a number of meetings with regional and international organizations during the period under review. Amongst those who met the Secretary General were Hafiz Sultan Rahman, Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Mathew Kahane, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Kazuyuki Tsurumi, Resident Representative; and Peter Ooi, Chief Technical Adviser of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Diek Mann of the German Standard Foundation (PTB); David Lockwood, Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP Headquarters; Ezaz Ghani, Economic Advisor and Roshan Bajracharya, Senior Economist of the World Bank; Dr. Carola Stein, Resident Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Sri Lanka; Leyla Tegmo-Reddy, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO); Dr. Madan P. Pariyar, Program Manager and Rita Bhadra, Programme Officer of South Asia Partnership (SAP); and Rudiger Wenk, Charge d’Affaires and Giap Dang, Adviser of European Union (EU). During his meetings with these visitors, the Secretary General briefed them on the importance attached by SAARC to the promotion of dialogues and partnerships with these organizations. It may be noted that amongst those mentioned above SAARC already has Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with UNDP, EU and PTB while such an arrangement is being worked upon with organizations like ADB, FAO and the World Bank.

     In a meeting with the Secretary General during the period, Sun Heping, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China demonstrated the Chinese interest to forge a cooperative linkage with SAARC. During the meeting, the Ambassador handed over to the Secretary General the Chinese proposal for such collaboration between the two sides.

     The period also witnessed the Secretary General meeting at the Secretariat a good number of resident Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Kathmandu, which, among others, included Humayun Kabir, Ambassador of Bangladesh; Zamir Akram, Ambassador of Pakistan; Park Sang-Hoon, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea; Rudiger Lemp, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Pauli Mustone, Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Finland. Likewise, during their visits to Kathmandu, Wyoso Prodjowarsito, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Myanmar and Nepal and Heino Richter, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to India also called on the Secretary General separately and discussed matters of mutual interest.

     Y. S. Shahrawat, First Secretary (Economic) of the Embassy of India in Kathmandu also called on the Secretary General during the period. It may be mentioned that the Secretary General had appointed Shahrawat as a SAARC Consultant and is preparing a study on customs matters.

     Others calling on the Secretary-General during the period included Syed Asim Zafar, Chairman and Wali-ul-Maroof Matin, Secretary General of the South Asian Federation of Exchange (SAFE); Raghav Raj Regmi, Chairperson of Nepal Participatory Action Network (NEPAN); Mahendra Lama of Jawaharlal Nehru University; and M. R. Josse, Consultant Editor of the People’s Review.

     Madhuban P. Paudel, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal also called on the Secretary General prior to his departure to take up his new assignment as the Charge’ d’Affaires of the newly opened Embassy of Nepal in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Paudel earlier served as Director at the SAARC Secretariat.

SAARC Cooperation with Other International Agencies

SAARC-ASEAN COLLABORATION

As per the directive of the Council of Ministers in their Informal Meeting in New York in 2003, a team from the SAARC Secretariat led by the Secretary-General participated at a Planning Workshop at the ASEAN Headquarters on 19-21 January 2004.

     During the Workshop, officials from the two Secretariats exchanged information and updated each other on their ongoing activities and future Work Plan. On the basis of previously identified areas of cooperation, they drew up a Partnership Work Plan for the year 2004-2005 consisting of several collaborative activities and the Guidelines for SAARC-ASEAN Secretariats Partnership. During the visit, the Secretary General of SAARC addressed an audience of ASEAN Secretariat officials, local media representatives and representatives of SAARC missions on recent developments in SAARC and Future of SAARC-ASEAN Cooperation.

SAARC-WORLD BANK COOPERATION

SAARC signed a Cooperation Arrangement with the World Bank on 9 March 2004 at the SAARC Secretariat. The SAARC Secretary General signed the Cooperation Arrangement on behalf of SAARC. The Arrangement was earlier signed by the Vice-President of the Bank, Mr. Praful Patel.

     As per the scope of the Arrangement, SAARC and the World Bank agreed to strengthen their partnership in the South Asia Region to achieve poverty reduction, economic cooperation, regional integration, trade facilitation, improving financial accountability, capacity building, and share knowledge and best practices in these areas. The Arrangement was signed in the presence of Mr. Ejaz Ghani of South Asia Region of World Bank, who was visiting the Secretariat and senior officials of the Bank from the Country Office in Nepal.

SAARC Council of Ministers Reconstitutes Integrated Programme of Action

The Council of Ministers at its Twenty-fourth Session held in Islamabad in January this year has reconstituted the Regional Integrated Programme of Action. The Council has also established for the first time, high-level Working Groups on various subjects:

TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

• Agriculture and Rural Development (including Livestock and Fisheries)
• Health and Population Activities (including nutrition and drug related issues)
• Women, Youth and Children
• Environment and Forestry
• Science and Technology, and Meteorology
• Human Resource Development (including Education, Skill Development, Arts, Culture and Sports)
• Transport (including ,Land, Water and Civil Aviation)

WORKING GROUPS

• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• Biotechnology
• Intellectual Property Rights (including Traditional Knowledge)
• Tourism
• Energy