The Eighth Meeting of the Committee of Heads of University Grants Commissions / Equivalent Bodies was held on 17 – 18 April 2013 in Kathmandu.

The meeting was inaugurated by Honorable Madhav Ghimire, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal on 17 April 2013 at Hotel Himalaya, Lalitpur, Kathmandu. The inaugural ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem – Secretary General of SAARC, Senior Officials of the Government of Nepal and other distinguished invitees. Prof. Dr. Ganesh Man Gurung, Chairman of University Grants Commission of Nepal chaired the meeting.

All SAARC Member States participated in this annual meeting and matters related to benchmarking higher education standards among SAARC Member States, mutual recognition of professional degrees, achieving a common regional educational standard, quality assurance and accreditation mechanism, SAARC Chair Fellowship Scholarship Scheme and Open & Distance Learning and SAARC – UNESCO cooperation were discussed by the Heads of UGCs / Equivalent Bodies.

The Meeting agreed upon strict deadlines and working mechanisms in order to strengthen and streamline the existing process of cooperation in the area of higher education. The Ninth Meeting of the Committee of Heads of University Grants Commissions / Equivalent Bodies will be held in Sri Lanka in April 2014.

Ms. Li Jiang, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province of China called on H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary General of SAARC, on 15 April 2013 at his residence.
The Vice Governor invited the Secretary-General to attend the Twenty-first Session of China Kunming Import and Export Fair and the First Session of China - South Asia Exposition to be held in

Kunming from 6 to 10 June 2013. She handed over the letter of invitation to the Secretary-General.

While thanking Ms. Jiang for the invitation, the Secretary-General expressed his willingness to attend the two events in Kunming.

Ms. Jiang was accompanied by a seven-member delegation from China.

H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC, addressed the Executive Committee of the SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in Kathmandu on 22 April 2013.

Referring to the Declarations of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth SAARC Summits on the role of the private sector, the Secretary-General said, “It is amply clear that successive SAARC Summits have always recognized the important contribution of the private sector in the regional economic integration, which is one of the primary goals of our Association.” At the end of his Address, he said, "Before I conclude, I would like to emphasize the point that we must vigorously pursue greater economic cooperation because only that will create the necessary climate of mutual trust and confidence that is indispensable to creating an environment of peace and stability in the region."  

As the SAARC Apex Body, SCCI brings together the representatives of the private sector from across the region to promote regional economic integration. SCCI is currently headed by its President Mr. Vikramjit Singh Sahney. Its headquarters is based in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Third Meeting of SAARC Ministers on Poverty Alleviation was inaugurated by Rt. Honourable Khil Raj Regmi, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Defence, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Ministers and Senior Officials from all eight SAARC Member States, Ambassadors and Ministers, Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission and Senior Officials from the Government of Nepal.

The Third Meeting of SAARC Ministers on Poverty Alleviation was chaired by Hon. Vidyadhar Mallik, Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development; and Health and Population, Government of Nepal and the Fifth Meeting of SAARC Secretaries on Poverty Alleviation was chaired by Mr. Ran Bahadur Shrestha, Secretary, Ministry of Co-operatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal.

Some of the major outcomes of the Meeting are as follows:

·         extension of the first cycle of SAARC Development Goals from 2012 till 2015, which would coincide with the completion of MDGs in 2015;

·         replacing RPP, which was being published since 2003, with SDR (SAARC Development Report) from 2014 onwards to be published biennially;

·         publishing the Regional Poverty Profile (RPP) 2009 – 2010 titled “Food Security Challenges for the Poor and Social Inclusion”, shortly by the SAARC Secretariat;

·         proceeding further with the project of SAARC Handicraft Village (SHV): Handicraft Design, Development and Promotion Centres (HDDPCs); and

·         organizing a ‘Symposium on Best Practices for Poverty Alleviation and SAARC Development Goals: Evidences on Improvements in Policy, Programme Designs and Implementation’ at the SAARC Secretariat in the coming months.

Further, the Member States felt the need to provide SAARC inputs for the post-2015 developmental agenda.

The Fourth Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Poverty Alleviation preceded by the Sixth Meeting of SAARC Secretaries on Poverty Alleviation will be held in Bhutan.