VOL.VII, NO. 1
JANUARY 1996
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
The SAARC Newsletter which has been hitherto published on a quarterly basis since 1990,
will now be published monthly, beginning from this issue. We have made this change taking
into account the increasing interest of the readers to get more up-to-date information on the
on-going activities of the Association as SAARC enters its second decade.
POVERTY ERADICATION
The Second Meeting of the Finance and Planning Ministers of SAARC member states was held in
New Delhi on 3-4 January 1996 to review the progress achieved in eradicating poverty in South
Asia. Minister of External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee chaired the meeting, which was opened by
SAARC Secretary-General Naeem U. Hasan who also delivered a statement at the inaugural
session. All member states participated in the meeting.
The discussions focused on the impact and serious consequences of widespread incidence of poverty in the SAARC countries. The member states stressed their firm resolve to carry forward their efforts in the key areas by
(a) appropriately prioritising their development efforts in order to have the maximum possible impact on poverty eradication;
(b) undertaking special poverty eradication programmes taking all policy imperatives into account;
(c) improving the institutional environment and resource availability for the attainment of the goals relating to sustained growth in income and employment generation and poverty eradication; and
(d) developing strategies for greater social mobilisation and community participation.
The meeting also emphasised that intensified regional cooperation would contribute significantly to poverty eradication in the region. In this context, it welcomed the operationalisation of SAPTA and stressed the need for concerted efforts to expand areas of economic cooperation in the SAARC region.
Other issues discussed during the meeting included the role of NGOs in the evolution of poverty eradication programmes. It reiterated that steps be taken to bring about a closer interface between Government agencies, NGOs and community organizations engaged in poverty eradication so as to bring about convergence in actions at all levels, particularly at the grass-root level.
The report adopted at the end of the meeting noted that acute deprivation among significant segments of the peoples of the SAARC countries constituted a major challenge. It underscored the need to sustain actions already initiated by the member states at the national level to eradicate poverty by the target date of 2002 AD.
The Ministers, in their report, recommended that
(a) while the meeting of the first two-tiers may continue to be held annually as stipulated by the Eighth SAARC Summit, a flexible approach may be adopted on the timing/periodicity of the meeting of the third-tier comprising of the Ministers of Finance and Planning of SAARC countries;
(b) member states would designate appropriate Nodal Agencies for the establishment of networking arrangements in order to regularly exchange information and share experience on poverty eradication;
(c) member states would forward to the SAARC Secretariat annual reports highlighting the progress made by them in the area of poverty eradication for dissemination in a consolidated form to all member states; and
(d) the relevant SAARC Technical Committees would take up, with sharper focus the issue of poverty eradication in its broadest sense in order to intensify actions in the areas falling under their purview.
The report affirmed the commitment of member states to address the child labour issue in some of the SAARC countries through evolving a holistic approach towards poverty eradication in which the problem of child labour would receive appropriate attention.
MEETING OF COMMERCE MINISTERS OF
SAARC MEMBER STATES
The First Meeting of Commerce Ministers of SAARC member states was held in New Delhi on
8-9 January 1996 to provide greater impetus to intra-SAARC trade under the Agreement on
SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) and to promote economic cooperation in the
region. The meeting was inaugurated by the current Chairman of SAARC, Prime Minister of India,
P.V. Narasimha Rao. In his inaugural address, the Prime Minister of India emphasised the
importance of enhancing substantially regional trade and economic cooperation so as to increase
the bargaining strength of the SAARC region in the post-Uruguay Round scenario. The meeting,
attended by all member states, was chaired by Minister of State for Commerce of India and leader
of the Indian delegation P. Chidambaram. He urged SAARC member states to consider the
possibility of adopting a "negative list" approach in the matter of extending tariff and non-tariff
preferences to each other.
SAARC Secretary General, Naeem U. Hasan, in his statement at the Inaugural Session, presented a resume of SAARC's initiatives and ongoing activities in the field of trade and economic cooperation among the member states. Directors Ashok K. Attri and Tahir Iqbal Butt also participated in the meeting.
The Commerce Ministers and leaders of delegations welcomed the operationalisation of SAPTA, effective from 7 December 1995, which coincided with the completion of the first decade of SAARC. They reiterated their commitment to accelerating the SAPTA process including the full implementation of all the provisions of the SAPTA Agreement and to the realisation of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) as the goal preferably by the year 2000 but not later than 2005.
They welcomed the convening of the Inter-Governmental Group (IGG) on Trade Liberalisation, and its first meeting on 14-15 March 1996 in Sri Lanka, which would initiate the second round of trade negotiations. They agreed that the second round should consider removal of non-tariff and trade control barriers so that trade in items of export interest of the member countries receives the desired impetus. They further agreed that IGG would also carry out their negotiations for extending the tariff concessions so as to make them wider, deeper and more meaningful. The meeting decided that the process of the second round of Negotiations should be concluded before 31 July 1996.
The Commerce Ministers and leaders of delegations also agreed that businessmen should be issued multiple entry visas on application.
They underlined the importance of exchange of information and simplification, harmonisation and streamlining of customs and related procedures and decided that meetings of Customs Administrations of the SAARC countries should be held once every six months in order to achieve rapid progress in the initial stage. They welcomed the offer of Pakistan to host the second meeting.
The meeting also discussed development of business information network, promotion of a SAARC Arbitration Board, and other issues like public bulk purchases and transport and transit improvement.
The Commerce Ministers decided to meet on an annual basis for regular consultations in order to meet the target set for achieving South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and to pursue the various other economic cooperation measures.
INDIA HOSTS THE FIRST SAARC TRADE FAIR
The first SAARC Trade Fair was held in New Delhi on 9-14 January 1996 with its theme as
"Cooperation for Growth". The Fair, organised as a part of the commemoration of the first decade
of SAARC, was jointly inaugurated by the Commerce Ministers and leaders of delegations of
member states. Various engineering goods, gems & jewellery, leather goods and footwear,
consumer electronics & consumer goods, food products, textiles & garments, jute & coir products,
handicrafts, gift items, etc. from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were on
display and sale. Food Festival, Film Festival, Cultural and Music Programmes from various
SAARC member countries were other attractions at the SAARC Trade Fair.
The Fair served as an effective instrument for direct promotion of intra-SAARC trade, as well as for raising the general awareness level in the region of the importance of trade among the countries for economic development. It provided a befitting venue for the representatives of the business and industry of the SAARC member countries to discuss various issues connected with promotion and expansion of intra-SAARC trade.
During the SAARC Trade Fair, the Commerce Ministers and leaders of delegations held an interactive meeting with a cross-section of the SAARC business community organised by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). They felt that such interaction with their business communities, who were the essential medium for their trade growth, was extremely useful in promoting their shared objectives.
The Fair was organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), New Delhi in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on behalf of SCCI and was sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of India. The Second SAARC Trade Fair would be held in Pakistan in January 1997.
SAARC Seminar on Testing of Electrical Power Engineering Equipment
A "SAARC Seminar on Testing of Electrical Power Engineering Equipment" was organised at the
Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Bangalore, India from 29 January to 1 February, 1996
under the Calendar of Activities of the SAARC Technical Committee on Science and Technology.
The Seminar provided its participants the opportunity to gain additional knowledge as well as to
familiarize themselves in the testing and evaluation of electrical equipment. The main areas covered
included those relating to: High Voltage; Insulating Materials; Short Circuit Testing; Transmission
Line Towers and Accessories; Cables and Power Capacitors.
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S ROUND OF MEETINGS
Naeem U Hasan, after taking over as the Secretary-General of SAARC called on the following
dignitaries during January 1996, and had valuable exchange of views on SAARC related issues. He
also apprised them on the on-going activities of SAARC :
Meetings with dignitaries of Nepal :
-Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba;
-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prakash Chandra Lohani;
-Minister for Commerce, Fatteh Singh Tharu;
-Minister for Water Resources, Pashupati S.J.B. Rana;
-Foreign Secretary, Kedar Bhakta Shrestha;
-Mayor of Kathmandu, P.L. Singh;
Meetings with dignitaries of India :
- Minister of External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee;
-Foreign Secretary, Salman Haider.
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SAARC Activities
Following is the tentative schedule of SAARC activities for the month of February 1996:
# 9-11 Workshop on Formulation, Monitoring and Implementation of Legislation on Infant Milk Substitutes and related matters, Kathmandu.
# 28-29 Tenth Meeting of the Technical Committee on Women in Development, New Delhi
# 28 Feb SAARC Housing Ministers' Conference, Colombo
Mar 1
# 1 Feb Attachment Training Programme for Information Professionals/Scholars from
# 30 Apr SAARC member states, to be held at Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC), New Delhi.
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