Chief Adviser (CA) Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed proposed adopting a clear roadmap for SAARC to fight out poverty and hunger as well as to attain accelerated economic growth to ensure socio-economic progress for some 1.5 billion people in South Asia, reports UNB from Colombo.
"South Asia is the home of almost half of the world's poor. Global economic slowdown, soaring oil and food prices, and growing threats of climate change are driving the destitute people of the region even further bellow the poverty line," he noted in his statement in the inaugural session of the 15th SAARC Summit at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in the Sri Lankan capital Saturday morning.
Dr Ahmed said, "We must redouble our efforts to attain the SAARC Development Goals within the targeted timeline. I believe national action on poverty alleviation should be complemented by effective and robust regional initiatives in order to have penetrative impact on poverty reduction in South Asia."
In his 20-minute speech, the Chief Adviser touched on critical issues of food and energy security in the wake of a looming worldwide crisis, trade, climate change and terrorism.
He said the recent price hike of food globally, creating a situation close to food crisis, has led all to reflect deeply on how to ensure collective food security for the people of the region. "This requires our immediate attention to ensure constant and steady supply of food for our people."
The Chief Adviser stressed developing strategies not only to address short-term supply-side shocks but also to strengthen cooperation to increase agricultural productivity. "This is a must to prevent hunger and malnutrition, one of the key priorities of all nations and of the Millennium Development Goals."
He called for early ratification and operationalisation of SAARC Food Bank to address the food shortages and meet exigencies.
Earlier, the 15th SAARC Summit began at Colombo Saturday to chart the South Asian grouping's next course of action to address the challenges of soaring food and fuel prices, and climate change and improve the socioeconomic condition of 1.5 billion people in the region.
Leaders of forum's eight member-nations and representatives of the designated observer-countries from across the world sat at 11:05am in Bandarnayake Memorial International Conference Hall amidst extraordinary security.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh handed over the chairmanship of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the outset of the meet.
Bangladesh caretaker government's Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Rhinley, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raja Gilani, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and host Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa joined the inaugural session of the two-day summit.
Under an extraordinary security blanket, the eight South Asian leaders arrived at the magnificent Bandaranaike Momorial Hall where Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa received the guests.
On the pivotal topic of trade, still held down due to procedural problems, the Chief Advisor said despite SAFTA being in place, non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, and complicated and cumbersome customs procedures stand in the way of greater intra-regional trade.
He pointed out that long sensitive list close to preferential tariffs and rigidities in other structural and policy frameworks stand in the way of people's desire to have a fully integrated South Asia.
"Clearly there is a need to remove these hurdles to enhance intra-regional trade," he told the inaugural function, also attended by representatives of the SAARC observer-states, including the United States and the European Union.
Dr Ahmed noted that negotiation is about to start on a Framework Agreement on Trade in Services. This should pave the way for the trade liberalisation that will be a "win-win situation" for all.
The Chief Adviser said pace of trade liberalisation has been less than satisfactory. To move the process forward, it may be useful to set up a consultative mechanism which could identify the bottlenecks and suggest practical ways to move the process of trade liberalisation towards Customs Union and finally to Economic Union.
Dr Ahmed said SAARC Development Fund (SDF) charter that will be signed at this summit would be an important instrument to implement regional projects that would yield concrete benefits for the member-states.
Besides, establishment of South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO) will be an important step towards trade facilitation and greater economic integration in the region.
Turning to the crunch on energy front, a global phenomenon concomitant with food problem, Dr Ahmed said SAARC countries must explore all avenues of energy sharing, including bilateral, sub-regional and regional cooperation, for addressing the supply-side constraints in the region.
Bangladesh specifically suggested capacity building, technology transfer and infrastructure development in this sector.
The head of the caretaker government said in the wake of skyrocketing price of fossil-fuels, the region must harness renewable sources of energy like hydropower, solar-energy, bio-fuels and wind-power to address the energy crisis.
"We should strive to develop conventional as well as alternative sources of energy to ensure its steady supply at affordable cost," he told the meet, adding, "achieving energy security is a must to realise development potential of the region."
On impact of climate change, the Chief Adviser noted with concern that in South Asia, global warming is rendering natural disasters frequently and more intensely, causing greater damage and devastation to life and property and livelihoods.
Adopt roadmap to fight out hunger, accelerate economic growth: CA
FE Team | Published: August 03, 2008 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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