SAARC FMs Meet in Dhaka August 1-2
The foreign ministers of the seven member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation are scheduled to meet in Dhaka on August 1-2 to review the implementation status of the plan of action taken at the 13th SAARC summit, official sources said.
New York City (PRWEB) July 30, 2006
The foreign ministers of the seven member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation are scheduled to meet in Dhaka on August 1-2 to review the implementation status of the plan of action taken at the 13th SAARC summit, official sources said.
Prior to the council of ministers’ meeting, foreign secretaries of the SAARC countries will meet between July 31 and August 1 and the meeting of the programming committee will be held on July 30, the foreign ministry sources said.
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan are the members of the regional forum.
The meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers will put special emphasis on issues like trade in services, communications links among the member countries, establishment of the SAARC energy center and finalising operation modalities of the SAARC poverty alleviation fund, which were incorporated in the 53-point plan of action of the Dhaka Declaration adopted at the 13th SAARC summit, held from November 12 to 13 in Dhaka, according to the provisional agenda of the meeting.
The agenda was finalised at an inter-ministerial meeting, held at the foreign ministry here on July 13. The meeting presided over by the foreign secretary Hemayetuddin, was attended by representatives from different ministries and divisions concerned of the government.
The foreign ministers will also review the implementation status of the decisions taken at five ministerial-level meetings held so far in Dhaka after the 13th summit.
The SAARC ministerial-level meetings, held after the 13th summit, were -- first Safta ministerial council, third SAARC health ministerial meeting, first SAARC home ministers’ meeting, and seventh SAARC environment ministers’ meeting.
The Dhaka Declaration decided to incorporate trade in services in the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement, which is based on trade in goods. A study on trade in services in the SAARC countries is likely to be undertaken prior to incorporating the area with the Safta agreement, sources in the commerce ministry told New Age.
The council of ministers’ meeting will discuss extensively on the SAARC regional multi-modal transport issue, on which a study report was also submitted to all seven member-countries for a decision.
‘Dhaka would soon finalise its position on transport connectivity among all seven member-countries of the forum based on the study report,’ a high official in the foreign ministry told New Age.
‘Prior to the meeting of the council of ministers, our foreign and communications ministries would hold discussions on the matter to finalise the country’s position.’
The 13th summit decided that the finance ministers of the SAARC countries would finalise the operation modalities of the forum’s poverty alleviation fund. The meeting was held on July 11 in Islamabad. But the finance minister, M Saifur Rahman, did not attend the meeting. However, a deputy secretary of the finance ministry attended it, sources said.
The forthcoming meeting will review the status of establishing the SAARC energy center in Islamabad, which was also decided at the 13th summit.
Besides, the meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers will review the implementation status of opening of counters for SAARC nationals at the international airports in the region, special incentives for SAARC nationals visiting countries of the region and special rates for them, sources said.
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