Upcoming Kathmandu Summit
Consolidating SAARC Process

By Uttam Maharjan

THE South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) completed its 16 years of existence on December 8. A brainchild of late Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman, the SAARC was formally installed in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. It is based on the concept of regional cooperation that reached a crescendo in Asia in the early 1980s. Prior to this, His late Majesty King Birendra had, at the ministerial-level meeting of the Colombo Consultants’ Committee held in Kathmandu in 1976, indicated the possibility of the distribution of huge resources of the South Asian region for the benefit of all the nations.

The SAARC Charter states allegiance to the UN Charter and to such principles as non-alignment, peaceful co-existence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in other nations’ internal affairs and non-use of power as well as world peace, freedom, social justice and economic prosperity.

The principal objectives enshrined in the SAARC Charter are to enhance public welfare and raise living standards; to catalyse socio-economic and cultural development and enable people to live a dignified life; to augment collective self-reliance; to promote mutual cooperation and build up confidence; to promote cooperation in economic, social, cultural, technological and scientific areas; to promote mutual cooperation with other developing countries; to develop a spirit of mutual cooperation in matters relating to common interests in international fora; and to promote cooperation with regional and international groupings having similar interests and goals.

The SAARC groups seven countries that vastly differ from one another in geographical terms. Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked countries, whereas Sri Lanka and the Maldives are sea-girt. And the rest are countries with harbour facilities. Despite such geographical disparities as well as economic ones, the member countries have a common platform to promote their collective welfare and interests. Even some inter-member differences may exist, they have common views on several world affairs.

India and Pakistan are at loggerheads with each other over Kashmir. Being nuclear powers, they tested nuclear blasts in 1998, sending a wave of insecurity all over the region. Likewise, they fought in the Kargil hills over Kashmir in 1999. India has also disputes with Bangladesh regarding the distribution of the Gangetic waters. Likewise, Nepal and Bhutan are yet to find an amicable solution to the refugee problem.

Notwithstanding all this acrimony among the member countries, various areas of cooperation have been identified within the SAARC framework: agriculture and forestry; health and population, meteorology; rural development; telecommunications; transportation; science and technology; postal services; sports, arts and culture; women’s development, and drug abuse and illegal trade in drugs.

The SAARC has already successfully held 10 summits in its 16 years’ history. The 11th summit should have been held in Kathmandu in November 1999 but for the military takeover in Pakistan on 12 October of that year. However, at long last the summit is scheduled to be held from 4 to 6 January of 2002 in Kathmandu itself.

Now, preparations are going on in full swing for the successful holding of the summit. Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and lack of social amenities are the common problems that are haunting the SAARC nations. Therefore, it is necessary that consolidated efforts be made to eliminate such problems by harnessing vast human and natural resources of the region.

It is heartening to note that various aspects of mutual cooperation will be on the agenda at the summit. The summit is expected to review the gains made over the last 16 years. Poverty alleviation will indoubtably occupy centre stage at the summit.

Likewise, social issues like population, health, education, women and children; globalisation and its impacts, competitive markets, drug menace, and terrorism will also come up for discussion at the summit.

Terrorism is now a burgeoning global problem. The effects of terrorism have been more pronounced since the September 11 attacks on the USA. It may be recalled that the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism was ratified at the third SAARC summit held in Kathmandu in 1987. Now, our once peaceful country is in the grip of terror itself due to the Maoist terrorist insurgency. However, the government has most sternly cracked down on the Maoist terrorists in recent times. As a result, the Maoists are now fighting a losing battle with the military forces of the government. At a time when the whole world has vowed to eliminate terrorism, the concerted efforts of the SAARC countries in this direction would consolidate the world efforts at uprooting terrorism in one way or the other.

Of paramount interest to note herein is that two conventions regarding trafficking of women and children’s welfare will be signed at the summit. This will hopefully open the doors for uplifting the wellbeing of women and children in the region. To recall, the SAARC Food Security Storage, SAARC Regional Convention against Terrorism, SAARC Convention Against Drug Abuse and SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement have already been signed.

Viewed thus, the summit will be a milestone in further consolidating a spirit of economic cooperation among the member countries against the backdrop of various developments that have taken place since the 10th summit was held in Colombo in July 1998. The government has also assured the participating heads of state or government that the security apparatus will be on red alert to thwart any despicable attempt to foil the summit.

As all the member countries are keenly looking forward to the summit, it may be hoped that it will meet with great eclat in setting the stage for overall development of the region by giving momentum to the implementation of the previous conventions and agreements.

New York Witnesses Tourism Decline

By Anne D’Innocenzio

EVERY year, Randy Pope makes his annual trip to New York from his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Seeing New York in December is a memorable experience and Pope expects this year, despite the terrorist attacks, to be no different.

"There’s nothing like it," said Pope, 50, who, along with his wife and daughter, will spend several hundred dollars shopping during his visit scheduled for the last week of December.

"We love the decorations, visiting FAO Schwarz, seeing the windows at Tiffany’s, and skating in Rockefeller Center," he said.

If only New York retailers had more customers like him. The city’s $ 50 billion retail industry is still feeling the effects of Sept. 11, including a lack of out-of-towners and in particular, visitors from overseas.

Merchants who have also been pummeled by the overall consumer spending slowdown are turning more to residents of the city’s five boroughs who are expected to spend the holiday season close to home. And they’re courting daytrippers from suburbs including New Jersey and Connecticut.

Macy’s, which is promoting itself as a piece of Americana, is among those wooing shoppers in the tristate area, advertising in subway and commuter train stations.

"We are forced to think local," said Rochelle Pfenning, director of visiting services at Macy’s famous Manhattan store. But the strategy seems to have worked - after falling off sharply in September and October, store traffic is back to busy holiday levels.

Bergdorf Goodman is dispatching trucks of designer clothes and furs to the suburban homes of its best customers who are nervous about traveling into Manhattan. Toy retailer FAO Schwarz has sent out 2 million catalogs, double the number from last year, hoping to woo shoppers who feel uncomfortable in public places.

Although tourism and sales have partially recovered since the attacks, business is still far below the levels expected in the current economic climate.

The number of tourists in the city, which fell more than 60 per cent during the first few weeks after the attacks, is now down by about 10 per cent to 15 per cent from a year ago, according to Cristyne L. Nicholas, president and chief executive of NYC & Co., New York City’s tourism marketing organization.

NYC & Co. launched the "Paint the town red, white and blue" campaign to revitalize tourism, which has resulted in an uptick in the number of consumers from the Northeast, she said.

Still, retail sales for holiday are expected to be down 25 per cent in Manhattan, even with heavy discounting, Nicholas said. The most vulnerable are the high-end department stores and specialty designer stores.

"Sales have been so volatile in New York," said Barrie Berg, partner with the consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, which is working with the New York Partnership, a business advocacy group, to assess the economic impact of the attacks and help formulate a revitalization plan.

Berg doesn’t see business improving soon, given consumers’ unwillingness to spend on discretionary items. At some of the major midtown stores, sales were down 20 per cent to 30 per cent in November, she said.

The drop in business is devastating for national chains including Saks Inc. and Federated Department Stores Inc., which operate big stores in Manhattan. Retailers’ New York stores could represent as much as 35 per cent of total company sales, Berg said.

In fact, a sharp drop in sales at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s flagship stores prompted Federated, its parent, to warn of lower-than-expected profits for the remainder of the year.

The biggest blow is the lack of international tourists, who traditionally account for 18 per cent of the annual tourist traffic, but make up 42 per cent of spending, according to NYC & Co. International tourists spend about $ 414 on average per visit, double what domestic visitors spend, Berg said.

The timing of the sales slump couldn’t be worse - it comes just as some prominent retailers have opened huge stores.

In the past year or so, palatial stores, including Hickey Freeman and Hugo Boss, have popped up along Fifth Avenue. And Tiffany & Co. just expanded its Fifth Avenue flagship.

Still, not everything is gloomy. Traffic may be down at Rockefeller Center, but Peter Fair, director of retail for the center, said sales are beating expectations because of a dramatic remodeling of the center, which started in late 1999. The makeover, which included replacing passport and airlines offices with retailers like Banana Republic and Nautica, aims to lure the local customer, placing less emphasis on the tourist.

"Now, people come to see the tree, and they stay to shop and eat," Fair said.

Pokemon, which opened its first U.S. store on Nov. 15 at Rockefeller Center, is surpassing sales projections by 7 per cent to 10 per cent, according to David Hillenbrand, general manager.

Elliott Wale, general manager of Toys R Us’s Times Square store, said he has been pleased with sales results, although he declined to offer figures.

"If the traffic numbers are off in Times Square, we are certainly not feeling it," he said. "Based on the circumstances, you are seeing a lot of folks just wanting to have a good time."

(AP)

Biodiversity

By Rakesh Kumar Yadav

THE term biodiversity refers to biological diversity of life on earth, which constitutes three levels, the genera, the species and the communities like ecosystem and habitats. The wealth of biodiversity is reflected by the number of species, genera and ecosystems present at the each level.

The diversity of plants and animals is important for maintaining the balance of nature. But due to the fast growth of human beings the biodiversity is somehow disturbed by anthropic interferences such as over-harvest, ill –planned development activities, industrialisation, use of toxic chemicals and deforestation. Then the ecological balance will be disturbed and ecosystem will be affected. That disturbance will have negative impacts on both plants and animals life. So, biodiversity is an invaluable gift of nature; let us preserve it.

Nepal is a Himalayan country with 68 per cent of the land covered by mountains. There are also different kinds of plants of economic value, essential oils, timber fibre, resin, pigment, wild vegetables, different kinds of wild fruits and beautiful ornamental plants, insects and more than six hundred species of butterflies, All crops and domesticated animals can be traced to their wild ancestors and other wild relatives. Nepal’s Himalayas harbour many wild and domesticated animal species (Yak, wild chicken, wild goat), several species of freshwater fishes, mushrooms, 700 species of medicinal plants, several species of fruits and different species of vegetables. These all show the unique biodiversity in the world and that helps to the country’s natural beauty intact.

Due to the damage of biodiversity caused by different kinds of activities, like poaching many important plants and animals are on the verge of extinction. Some of these species harvested include Swertia Chiraita, Jatamansi, Khutki etc. In addition, a number of ornamental wild flowers such as Primula, Rhododendron and Orchids are found throughout the Himalays. The sustainable harvesting of these valuable species is not only possible but also can have tremendous long term economic benefits for local communities. It is also very important for rural area of Nepal because in the rural area, there is not enough general medicines available even for basic treatment. People use herbal medicinal plants for treatment which helps economically too.

Conservation of biodiversity is a complex phenomenon and include not only maintenance of ecological balance but also reduction of green house effect, control of global warming, protection of plants and animals, conservations of genetic resources etc. Conservation of biodiversity is taken care by the government only in all eight national parks, four wildlife reserves, two conservation areas and one hunting area. This protected area system covers fourteen per cent of the total area of the Kingdom and represents a sample of many of Nepal’s major ecosystems. But apart from the government, there are also many NGOs and INGOs working for the conservation of biodiversity like IUCN, ICIMOD etc. But this is not enough.

If we are to protect our ecological system, we must take initiatives to control overpopulation and other activities that pose threat to the environment. Besides, we should also promote zoos, zoological and botanical gardens and biological banks for storing sperm, embryo, tissue, organs and even DNA.