KATHMANDU, AUG 19 -
Finance ministers of the eight SAARC nations will be attending a three-day conference due to be held in the Bhutanese capital Thimpu from Aug. 22. The conference will draw guidelines for the recently operationalised SAARC Development Fund (SDF), discuss implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and regional connectivity projects, among others. Finance Minister Surendra Pandey along with finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal will attend the event.

The ministerial level meet will be preceded by a board meeting of the SDF and finance secretaries on Aug. 22 and 23. Hari Kumar Shrestha, joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the meeting would also take stock of the impact of the recent global economic crisis on the region.

Another major item on the agenda is finalising the basic guidelines of the SDF and its funding modalities. Also on the cards is the issue of increasing the current size of the SDF capital of US$ 300 million.

So far, only India and Bhutan have contributed to the SDF. India has chipped in another US$ 100 million as a voluntary contribution for social development programmes.

The SDF was launched at the 16th SAARC summit back in April with the aim of assisting social, economic and infrastructure growth of the member nations. Currently, the only social window of the SDF is in operation with projects like poverty alleviation and child and maternity health. Nepal will pitch the SDF for more effective and early finalisation of implementation modalities. Officials said that Nepal would also forward a proposal to open the infrastructure window of the SDF, which deals with regional projects.

The conference will also discuss financial issues related to the roadmap of the SAARC Economic Union and regional capital market. Discussions on the issue of investment promotion, service sector promotion and formation of a regional customs union are also likely to take place.

 


Posted on: 2010-08-20 08:45

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