SAARC Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem met with the Foreign Secretary of Nepal, H.E. Durga Prasad Battarai today at Singha Durbar.

The Foreign Secretary welcomed the SAARC Secretary-General and expressed confidence that SAARC will achieve new heights under the stewardship of the Secretary-General who possesses a wealth of professional experience.

Many issues pertaining to the progress of SAARC and the directives given by the higher SAARC bodies to bring in further improvements into the SAARC process were also discussed.

The Foreign Secretary assured the SAARC Secretary-General of the fact that the Government of Nepal would extend its fullest support for the effective functioning of the SAARC Secretariat.

The Meeting was also attended by Mr. Ganesh Dakal, Under-Secretary (SAARC Division) and Mr. Dhana Bahadur Oli, Under-Secretary (UN Division) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal and Mrs. R.D. Rajapakse, Director (SAARC Secretariat).

SAARC Information Centre (SIC), Kathmandu, in coordination with the Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, organized a ‘Media Exchange Programme in Islamabad on 5-6 July 2011.  Dr. Firdous Aashiq Awan, Pakistan’s Minister of Information & Broadcasting, inaugurated the Programme as the Chief Guest.  At the conclusion of the Programme, the following recommendations were made:

1. Every meeting and seminar or workshop organized by SIC should start with Action Taken Report on the status of previous related recommendations.
2. SIC may write to the member countries to examine the possibilities of instituting at least one internship and one fellowship for media persons from other SAARC countries. These can be sponsored either by the governments or financed by the private sector groups or by the educational institutions. In case, sponsorships are not forthcoming, a fund may be set aside for the purpose in the SIC budget.
3. Regular Annual meeting of Information Ministers needs to be revived. The matter may be taken up on the priority basis with the higher bodies of SAARC through SIC GB.
   Information and Broadcasting Secretaries of the member countries should meet to review the status of recommendations of various bodies pertaining to media exchange.
   Member countries may designate a coordinating officer to liaise with SIC. Special allowances for the incumbent will be provided by SIC. The incumbent should have a fixed tenure of at least two years.
4. SIC should request the member countries to facilitate down-linking of channels, specially the national public broadcasters from the member countries in concurrence with local laws. It will contribute to the spirit of ‘building bridges’- the theme of forthcoming SAARC Summit.
5. SIC shall approach the member countries for compilation of rules and guidelines regarding conducting media exchanges (such as permission for shooting, investment, content sharing or any other related activity) and the compilations will be made available on SIC website.
6. A SAARC media award may be instituted. Nominations may be invited through open advertisement on SIC website and related platforms in the member states. Guidelines and modalities of the award shall be circulated among the member countries before adoption. SIC will be the nodal agency.
7. SIC’s presence on social media network need to be established. SIC shall create a Facebook page. SIC will also create presence on Twitter, You Tube and blogs.
8. Link of SIC website shall be on the websites of the coordinating ministries of the member states.
9. SAARC News Network for news agency level cooperation need to be established.

As part of introductory visits to Member States, H. E. Uz. Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, Secretary-General of SAARC, visited Sri Lanka from 20 to 22 June 2011.

While in Colombo, H. E. Uz. Dhiyana Saeed called on H. E. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka. During the meeting, the President conveyed his Government’s firm commitment to making SAARC a vibrant organization for the common good of the peoples of South Asia.

During the visit, the Secretary-General also called on H. E. Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka. At the meeting, the Minister and the Secretary-General exchanged views on a wide range of issues pertaining to regional cooperation under the auspices of SAARC.

H. E. Uz. Dhiyana Saeed also met H. E. Mr. K. Amunugama, Secretary/External Affairs of Sri Lanka. At the meeting, the Secretary-General expressed her gratitude to the Government of Sri Lanka for endorsing her appointment as the tenth Secretary-General of SAARC. The Foreign Secretary and the Secretary-General also exchanged views on SAARC matters, particularly those relating to intra-regional trade and intra-regional connectivity.

While in Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General also visited the SAARC Cultural Centre and held discussions with its Director and staff.

Since assuming office in March this year, Secretary-General Dhiyana Saeed has paid introductory visits to the Maldives, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, and is expected to pay a visit to Afghanistan in the first week of July. She has also paid introductory calls on the high dignitaries in Nepal.

On an official visit to Maldives, the SAARC Secretary General H.E. Uz. Fathimath Dhiyana Saaed visited SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre on 14th June 2011. During her visit she met the Director and the staff of the Centre. Mr. Hassan Shifaau, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives and Mr. Ibrahim Zuhuree, Director SAARC attended the meeting. Director of the Centre, Dr. Shiham thanked the Secretary General for visiting the Centre and expressed appreciation for the opportunity to discuss the issues to the Centre with Secretary General.

During the meeting she interacted with the officials of the Centre and assessed the Centre’s working and performance. She highlighted that being a Centre of excellence its expected that the Centre should develop and implement programme and make significant contribution to meet the emerging environmental challenges and concerns in the region particularly in relation to coastal zones. The Director of the Centre, Dr. M. Shiham Adam briefly appraised the Secretary General on the ongoing programme activities of the Centre including the programme implementation and achievements during the current year. He also highlighted and pressed upon the problems faced by the Centre in programme implementation and recruitment of suitable staff. Madame Secretary General highlighted the need and relevance for developing partnership with local government and civil society organizations in programme implementation of the Centre.

At the end of meeting, the Secretary General suggested to the Director to come up with plan of action to enhance the capacity of the centre to make meaningful contribution in area of coastal zone management in the region.