From the Editorial Desk

Dear readers,

On 8 December 1995, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) completed its first ten years. During this relatively short period we have witnessed the regional organization come of age. The Association, which was born in Dhaka with the signing of its Charter a decade ago by the leaders of the seven South Asian countries has come a long way since then. Member countries have been able to lay down a firm foundation to strengthen cooperation within the region for the betterment of their peoples. SAARC as a regional organisation has provided the much needed institutional framework for cooperation in a region which on the one hand is bound by a common cultural heritage and on the other marked by diverse socio-economic features.

Given these realities, SAARC has always moved ahead with a cautious step-by-step approach, which is the key to the steady progress made by the Association over the years. Considerable advances have been made in several important areas, most notably, in the social sector and now increasingly in the economic and trade areas. With the operationalisation of South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) member countries are moving forward to realise a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) preferably by the year 2000, The bold initiative taken at the highest political level to meet the challenge of eradicating poverty from the region preferably by the year 2002 has been followed up by member states with appropriate policies and programmes at the national level with an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism set up at the regional level within the SAARC framework.

Recognising the importance of creating greater awareness of the initiatives of SAARC to address the pressing issues faced by the peoples of South Asia, we at the Secretariat are making continuous efforts to disseminate as much information as possible both within and outside the region. Since 1990 the Secretariat has been bringing out its quarterly SAARC Newsletter which has provided useful information on SAARC activities. Beginning from January 1996, the quarterly SAARC Newsletter has been replaced by a monthly Newsletter with the aim of providing more up-to-date information to our readers. Through our regular press releases effort is made to keep the public informed of the on-going activities of the Organisation. The programmes under the SAARC Audio Visual Exchange (SAVE), initiated in 1987, have also been effective in generating better understanding of the commonalities in the region.

This first issue of SPECTRUM- the magazine of SAARC Secretariat is being published at an important juncture in the evolution of regional cooperation in South Asia. SAARC having completed its first decade is now moving forward to meet the challenges ahead. It is in this context that we decided to dedicate this issue to mark the Tenth Anniversary. In this issue we have tried to highlight the programmes and activities organised by member states both at the national and regional level to mark the decade. In the future issues of the magazine, we will attempt to provide the reader with more indepth information on our work. We also intend to cover in the magazine, the socio-economic and cultural aspects of member countries, to foster greater understanding and appreciation of the commonalities in the region.

In our endeavor to improve the magazine, we would welcome from our readers, comments, suggestions and more importantly contributions in terms of articles, write-ups on relevant subjects.

Naeem U. Hasan


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