H.E. Mr. Amjad Hussian B. Sial, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), called on Hon. Mr. Rabindra Prasad Adhikari, Minister for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal. While felicitating the Minister on his assumption of the Office, the Secretary General expressed his good wishes for success in the important assignment, which is relevant to the areas of cooperation in the SAARC process. He also congratulated the Minister on successful holding of International Buddhist Conference recently in Lumbini.

While reiterating Nepal’s commitment to the SAARC process, the Minister expressed the hope that the Nineteenth SAARC Summit would be convened as soon as possible and dates of the Summit would be announced at the earliest. In this regard, the Minister highlighted the efforts being made by Nepal as the current Chair of SAARC to create a conducive environment for holding of the SAARC Summit and other meetings through active consultations with the other Member States.

The Minister underscored the need of pursuing the objectives and ideals of the SAARC Charter and aspirations of the peoples by promoting key areas of cooperation. The Minister also underscored the need for improving intra-regional connectivity, cultural cooperation and promotion of tourism.

The Secretary General briefed the Minister on the progress being made and recent activities/meetings held in the fields of culture, tourism and civil aviation. While stating that tourism, culture and civil aviation constitute important areas of cooperation in the SAARC process, the Secretary General particularly emphasized the need to improve intra-regional air connectivity by early finalization of SAARC Air Services Agreement, for the promotion of economic relations, people-to-people contacts and tourism. He agreed that the SAARC Summits should be held regularly as decided by the Leaders and underlined that other activities of the SAARC Mechanisms should be held as per calendar of activities.

The Minister said that serious efforts should be made by all concerned to achieve the objectives of the SAARC Charter for welfare of the peoples. The Secretariat should also continue to play its due role. He expressed the confidence that with his vast experience, the Secretary General would make an important contribution in this regard. The Secretary General assured his full cooperation and thanked the Government of Nepal for its valuable support to the SAARC Secretariat.

SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu, 10 May 2017

H. E. Mr. Amjad Hussain B. Sial, Secretary General of SAARC, addressed the Inaugural Session of the Regional Kick-off Workshop of the Project, Strengthening Regional Infrastructure and Cooperation in the field of Quality Infrastructure, that commenced in Kathmandu from today.

The two-day start-up Workshop was organized by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) (National Metrology Institute) of the Federal Republic of Germany in collaboration with Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology.

Hon. Mr. Matrika Prasad Yadav, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies of Nepal graced the occasion with his presence as the Chief Guest.

In his address, the Secretary General thanked PTB for launching the project in 2010, which is now in its third and final phase for the period 2018-2021. Giving due regard to SAARC’s collaboration with its partners, including PTB, he said, “This Workshop is a testimony to SAARC’s increasing engagement and collaboration with regional and international organizations, as well as with its observers. It is also a good example of SAARC’s interest in project-based collaboration.”

Addressing the Workshop, he further said, “Home to one fourth of humanity and endowed with abundant human and natural resources, the SAARC region has vast potential for socio-economic development and improving the quality of life of the peoples. Moreover, with a consumer market of 1.7 billion people, South Asia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. These advantages provide tremendous potential for enhanced intra-regional trade for sustained economic growth.”

SAARC and PTB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2003 with the objective to implement technical cooperation projects in the area of metrology, standards, testing, quality management, accreditation and certification, collectively known as MSTQ, in the Member States of SAARC.

Since the signing of the MoU, PTB has provided numerous capacity building programmes in the field of Metrology and Accreditation to the Member States and has been an important development partner of SAARC for project-based collaboration.

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Kathmandu, 08 May 2018

H. E. Mr. Amjad Hussain B. Sial, Secretary General of SAARC, addressed the Inaugural Session of the Regional Conference on Scaling-up the Nutritional Care of Women in South Asia in Kathmandu on 07 May 2018 as the Chief Guest.

Devoted to the theme, “Stop Stunting – Power of Maternal Nutrition”, the Regional Conference was co-hosted by SAARC and UNICEF.

In his address at the Inaugural Session, the Secretary General welcomed the participation of over 120 delegates from the region and other parts of the world. Touching upon the theme of the Conference, he stated, “Good nutrition and a healthy diet is important in every phase of life. It is even more crucial, during pregnancy, both for the health of the mother and the baby during the first years of the babies’ life.” He further said, “One third of world’s women with anaemia live in South Asia. Improving nutritional situation of women and children in South Asia requires reaching out to women during adolescence, pre-conception and pregnancy stage. In the meanwhile, combining nutrition-specific interventions with measures aimed at empowering women is essential.”

Kathmandu, 07 May 2018

The Twelfth Informal Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers was held in Manila, the Philippines, on 04 May 2018 on the sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank. The Meeting, attended by the Hon’ble Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegations from the SAARC Member States, was held under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Finance Minister of Nepal, H. E. Mr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada.

In his opening statement, the Chairman thanked ADB for its continuous support to SAARC. He also commended excellent arrangements made by SAARC Secretariat and ADB for the Meeting. He underscored that concerted efforts should be made to attain the objective of South Asian Economic Union, in phased manner, as desired by the leaders of SAARC.

The Secretary General of SAARC, H.E. Mr. Amjad Hussain B. Sial, made a statement on “Review of Progress in Transition to South Asian Economic Union” and underlined that the Member States may make sincere efforts for implementing the objective of achieving South Asian Economic Union, as envisioned by the Leaders of SAARC. He recalled that in order to enable SAARC to achieve regional economic integration, ADB had agreed to provide support to SAARC in: (i) economic integration studies; (ii) infrastructure; (iii) connectivity; and (iv) energy. He appreciated the important contribution of ADB in various areas of regional economic cooperation under the framework of SAARC and hoped that ADB would continue to do so for the economic development of the South Asian region.

Mr. Wencai Zhang, Vice President of Asian Development Bank briefed the Meeting about the status of collaboration between ADB and SAARC. He reaffirmed ADB’s commitment to continue collaboration with SAARC for economic development and prosperity of the peoples in the region.

The Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegation briefed the Meeting about the current status of economic progress achieved by them, appreciated the contribution made by ADB in their economic growth and hoped that SAARC would make further progress to achieve its full potential for the benefit of peoples of the region.

Mr. Lei Lei Song, ADB expert made a presentation on “Artificial Intelligence Anxiety? Technology and Jobs for South Asia” which is one of the criticial contemporary economic issues affecting the SAARC Countries.

Kathmandu, 04 May 2018