The Regional Consultative Meeting to finalize actionable frameworks on Sanitation and Nutrition in South Asia was held at the SAARC Secretariat on 8-9 May 2013 under the chairmanship of Mr. Ram Chandra Devkota, Deputy Director General of Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal. The Meeting was attended by representatives of SAARC Member States, representatives from UNICEF and Experts from the region. Mr. Ibrahim Zuhuree, Director, Social Affairs, SAARC Secretariat opened the Meeting on behalf of H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, the Secretary-General of SAARC. On behalf of UNICEF, Karin Hulshof, Regional Director, UNICEF ROSA, highlighted the status of sanitation and nutrition situation in South Asia. The Meeting examined Regional Frameworks on Nutrition and Sanitation and agreed to the text of the Frameworks with revisions.

2.   The Second Meeting of the SAARC Health Ministers mandated the Technical Committee on Health and Population Activities (TCHPA) to prepare guidelines for basic healthcare services, nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Accordingly, the second meeting of TCHPA recommended the Secretariat to obtain services of consultant(s) or institution(s) to develop such guidelines. The SAARC Secretariat with support from UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) contracted expertise to develop Regional Frameworks for Sanitation and Nutrition.

3.  The Report of the Meeting will be considered by the Fourth Meeting of Technical Committee on Health and Population Activities scheduled to be held in India.

H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC, called on H. E. Mr. Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs of India on 2 May 2013 in New Delhi. 

During the meeting, the Secretary-General apprised the Minister of the ongoing activities of SAARC, with particular reference to the efforts underway to promote intra-regional trade and connectivity. He also expressed his gratitude to the Minister for the continuous support that he has been receiving from the Government of India in carrying out his responsibilities as the Secretary-General of SAARC since assuming office in March 2012. 

While in New Delhi, the Secretary-General also met H. E. Mr. Ranjan Mathai, Foreign Secretary of India. The Secretary-General and the Foreign Secretary discussed measures to promote regional cooperation in general, and the important role that India, as the largest member of SAARC, could play in this regard.

During these meetings, the Secretary-General also highlighted the need to convene the Inter-Summit of the SAARC Council of Ministers early.

The Secretary-General was visiting New Delhi from 1 to 5 May 2013 in connection with the Informal Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers that was convened on 3 May 2013 on the sidelines of the 46th Annual General Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Addressing the informal meet of the Finance Ministers, the Secretary-General said, “Various studies, including many from our region, have concluded that infrastructure is poor in our countries and across the region, and there is much scope for investment in this field.  Hence, the need for Infrastructure Financing becomes crucial, which, gladly, is also the theme of this informal meeting today.”

In addition to their regular meetings, SAARC Finance Ministers have been meeting informally on the sidelines of the annual meetings of ADB since 2006. This meeting in New Delhi is the seventh such gathering that brought together SAARC Finance Ministers to discuss ways and means to deepen regional economic and financial integration.

The Sixth Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Expert Group (IGEG) on Financial Issues was held at the SAARC Secretariat on 23-24 April 2013 under the chairmanship of Mr. C.J.P. Siriwardana, Assistant Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Colombo. It was attended by the representatives of Finance Ministries and Central Banks of SAARC Member States. Mr. Amrit Lugun, Director, Economic, Trade and Finance Division, SAARC Secretariat opened the Meeting on behalf of SAARC Secretary General, H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem as per SAARC practice.   The Meeting examined the SAARC Study on ‘Regional Economic Integration in SAARC, its current extent and recommendations for further deepening’ conducted with the assistance of Asian Development Bank. The Study dwells on the roadmap to South Asian Economic Union (SAEU).

2.         The Inter-Governmental Expert Group discussed matters relating to Public Debt Management; Development of Capital Market in South Asia;  Financial Inclusion - Access to financial services and credit to financially excluded sections of the society; Experiences of Financing for Infrastructural Development; Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing;  Harmonisation of fiscal and trade indicators; comparative performance of key economic indicators; sharing of experience and best practices in the financial sector;   greater flow of financial capital and intra-regional long-term investment.  The Meeting also reviewed the progress in the implementation of Swap Arrangement. The delegation of India informed the Meeting that the Swap Arrangement was announced on 16 May 2012 by the Governor of Reserve Bank of India in Pokhara, Nepal with a contribution of India of US$ 2 billion for SAARC countries. The first agreement under the swap arrangement was signed between Bhutan and India on 8 March 2013 for an amount of US$ 100 million for three years.    The Swap facility will further economic cooperation within the SAARC region, pave the way for increased intra-regional trade and contribute to enhancing the collective welfare of the region.

The Second Meeting of the SAARC Sectoral Technical Committee on Jute, Textiles and Leather was held in Dhaka on 17-18 April 2013 under the chairmanship of Dr. Syed Humayun Kabir, Director (Standards), Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), Dhaka. Mr. Md. Farhaduddin, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industries, Government of Bangladesh inaugurated the Meeting. Mr. Iqbal Ahmed, Director (SAARC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh also addressed the Inaugural Session. He welcomed the delegates and informed that the construction of SARSO building is underway and will become operational by January 2014. In his statement, Mr. Amrit Lugun, Director, SAARC Secretariat urged that Meetings of Sectoral Technical Committees should be held at regular intervals in order to expedite the process of harmonisation of standards of identified products.