H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC, received H. E. Mr. Hassan Shifau, Permanent Secretary of Maldives at the SAARC Secretariat today.

Mr. Shifau was visiting Nepal in connection with the SAIEVAC Regional Meeting to Review Commitments and Actions for the Girl Child and to develop a Regional Action Plan to End Child Marriage held in Kathmandu on 17-18 December 2012.

During the meeting, among other things, the Secretary-General and the Permanent Secretary exchanged views on SAARC matters with a particular focus on the follow-up of the decisions of the Seventeenth SAARC Summit held in Addu City of Maldives in November 2011 that was devoted to the theme, Building Bridges. They also discussed matters on the agenda of the Forty-third Session of the Programming Committee, currently scheduled to be held at the SAARC Secretariat on 3-5 January 2013.

Mr. Hasan is the present Chairperson of the SAARC Programming Committee comprising Joint Secretaries or Directors-General dealing with SAARC in Member States. He also served as Director at the SAARC Secretariat during the period, October 2007-December 2010.

On the auspicious occasion of the Twenty-eighth Charter Day of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), I am pleased to extend my warm felicitations to the people and Governments of our Member States.

Founded in December 1985, SAARC is the manifestation of the collective will of our Member States to promote regional cooperation and integration in order to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life. 

Although SAARC commenced with a few areas of regional cooperation at its inception, the ambit of engagement among its members continued to grow by every passing year.  Indeed, SAARC today stands to cater to many diverse areas of regional cooperation, with the establishment of a number of inter-governmental mechanisms and institutions. More than anything else, SAARC has continued to serve as a common platform to address the common issues facing our region, thereby building mutual trust and confidence among one another.  In addition, through its diverse activities over the past twenty-seven years, SAARC has been able to forge a distinct South Asian identity and a culture of peace, cooperation and partnership for the collective benefit of our people.

Devoted to the theme, Building Bridges, the Seventeenth Summit held in Addu City, Maldives, in November 2011, provided the renewed vigor and dynamism to the agenda of cooperation being pursued by the Association, particularly in the crucial area of intra-regional connectivity. Acting upon the directive of the Seventeenth Summit, an inter-Governmental mechanism is currently engaged with the preparatory work to launch the Indian Ocean Cargo and Passenger Ferry Service involving India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. In the meanwhile, Member States are vigorously pursuing the finalization of the Regional Railways Agreement and the Motor Vehicles Agreement. Furthermore, SAARC is also contemplating conducting a demonstration run of a container train among Bangladesh, India and Nepal. With the coming into fruition of these important initiatives, I am confident that intra-regional trade will grow substantially, paving the way for the South Asian Economic Union, as envisioned by our Leaders at their successive Summits.

As we mark the Twenty-eighth Charter Day today, all of us must be proud of the significant achievements SAARC has made over the years. The South Asian Free Trade Arrangement (SAFTA), the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and the South Asian University (SAU) are some of the notable achievements that deserve particular mention here. This is also a befitting occasion for all our countries to reaffirm their commitment to the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter for the common good of the peoples that SAARC represents.

The Twenty-eighth SAARC Charter Day was celebrated today at the SAARC Secretariat premises in Kathmandu.

On invitation of H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary- General of SAARC, the occasion was graced by Rt. Honourable Mr. Paramananda Jha, Vice President of Nepal and Honourable Mr. Narayan Kaji Shrestha “Prakash”, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal.  

H.E. Mr. Durga Prasad Bhattarai, Foreign Secretary of Nepal, other high Government dignitaries, Heads of Missions, Ambassadors, other dignitaries, media personnel and all SAARC Secretariat officials were also present at the occasion.

H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary- General of SAARC in his welcome address briefly highlighted the achievements of SAARC in the last twenty-seven years and said that SAARC strives to become more people centric in its future endeavours.

H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC hosted a press conference at the SAARC Secretariat premises in Kathmandu on occasion of the 28th SAARC Charter Day, which is celebrated tomorrow, 08.12.2012. The press conference was attended by a number of representatives from national and international media institutions.

Mr. Dhan Bahadur Oli, Director – Information and Poverty Alleviation opened the press conference and H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC briefed the media personnel on developments within SAARC since the 17th SAARC Summit which was held in Addu City, Maldives on 10 – 11 November 2012.

His Excellency outlined the achievements within SAARC, inter alia, in trade & finance, environment and climate change, education, poverty alleviation, development and transport.

The briefing of His Excellency was followed by an interactive session with media personnel present in which Directors representing the eight SAARC Member States provided updates on areas of cooperation within SAARC.