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Kathmandu Thursday January 03, 2002 Paush 19, 2058.
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SAARC ministers take up economic issues
By Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU, Jan 2 - Nepal presented a paper on poverty
alleviation at the 22nd SAARC Council of Ministers’ (CoM) meeting on Wednesday that
was dominated by social and economic issues.
A Foreign Ministry official told The Kathmandu Post that
Nepal suggested for a regional strategy to be developed to eradicate poverty from the
region in view of globalisation. For this purpose, Nepal proposed a quicker dismantling of
trade barriers and also sought a common regional approach on employment and health, among
other key issues.
Nepal suggested other member states to develop new areas of
co-operation in micro credit, institutional development, modernisation of agriculture,
improvement in service areas, decentralisation, and participation of poor in developmental
activities, among others.
Nepal also recommended that the SAARC Secretariat be equipped
with modern facilities to enable it to play a more effective role. The official said that
Nepal proposed that the SAARC Secretary General be empowered to form an experts’
group to advise him on ways to strengthen SAARC as an institution.
Briefing the media today, Pushkar Rajbhandari, Joint
Secretary and Spokesperson for the 11th SAARC Summit, quoted Finance Minister Dr Ram
Sharan Mahat as telling the ministers that they were meeting in Kathmandu at a special
juncture in "the history of human civilisation". Mahat was representing Nepal in
the meeting of Foreign Ministers as the Prime Minister usually holds the Foreign Affairs
portfolio in Nepal’s context.
Dr Mahat asked the member countries to rise to the occasion
and "reaffirm our determination to take decisive forward movement in a collective way
to keep pace with the rest of the world".
He also urged the ministers to enter into core economic
issues early on. Previously, both Dr Mahat and Nepalese Foreign Ministry officials have
been stressing that Nepal would endeavour to make SAARC more business-like and futuristic,
especially with regard to integrated economic co-operation.
The Finance Minister stressed that holding the next round of
SAPTA negotiations, finalising SAFTA (by the end of 2002), transport facilitation and
regional energy grid are the important issues to be settled. He added that issues like
timep-bound poverty reduction, empowerment of women, welfare of children and the scourge
of terrorism deserve deliberations and appropriate conclusions.
Spokesperson Rajbhandari also informed that a moment of
silence was observed in memory of late King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and other members of
the Royal Family who died in a shootout June last year.
The CoM also adopted the agenda of the two-day meeting. The
agenda before the CoM were economic issues that include review of intra-regional economic
co-operation, common position on WTO and trade fairs; reviewing regional mechanism and
co-operation on poverty alleviation; SAARC social charter; issues relating to women,
children and health; and the two conventions that are likely to be signed by the seven
heads of state and government.
The conventions are SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements
for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia and SAARC Convention on Preventing and
Combating Crime against Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.
At today’s meeting, the Foreign Secretary-level Standing
Committee presented its report to the CoM after three days of deliberations. The outgoing
SAARC Secretary General Nihal Rodrigo, whose term had been extended for 10 days until
January 10, presented his analytical report on how to strengthen SAARC and develop its
institutions.
The SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry also presented its
report on the activities it had undertaken with regard to the SAARC process.
Meanwhile, Q.A.M.A. Rahim of Bangladesh has been confirmed as
the next Secretary General by the CoM.
Describing the mood at the meeting, Rajbhandari said it was
all in "a very good tone". He revealed that both the Indian and Pakistani
Foreign Ministers shook hands and smiled at each other. "The ministers seemed
happy," said Rajbhandari. There was also an informal meeting for about 20 minutes as
is the SAARC custom.
Earlier at the airport, India’s Foreign Minister Jaswant
Singh declined to tell The Kathmandu Post whether he would hold any bilateral talks with
his Pakistani counterpart Abdul Sattar on the sidelines of the Summit.
Later at the briefing by India’s Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Nirupama Rao, she too declined to comment whether the two would meet, merely
saying that India’s Foreign Minister had already spoken on the issue on Tuesday, and
"I have nothing more to add to that".
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