2. Contents
• What is SAARC?
• History
• Headquarters
• SAARC Members
• Reason Of Formation
• Objectives
• Secretariat
• Principles
• Facts and Figures
• Regional Centers
• SAARC Financial Contribution
• The 17th SAARC Summit, Nov 11, 2011
• Latest Updates
• Failures
• Future Members
• References
3.
4. What is SAARC?
• The South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation is an
organization of South Asian Nations, founded in December
1985
• It is dedicated to economic, technological, social and cultural
development emphasizing collective self- reliance
5. History
• The concept of SAARC was first adopted by Bangladesh
during 1977, under the administration of President Ziaur
Rahman
• In the late 1970s, SAARC nations agreed upon the creation of
a trade bloc consisting of South Asian Countries
• The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was again
mooted in May 1980
6. Headquarters
• It was established when its Charter was formally adopted on
8th December 1985 by the Heads of State or Government of
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India , Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka
• Afghanistan joined the organization in 2005
• The headquarters of the SAARC Secretariat are in Kathmandu,
Nepal
8. Reasons for formation of
SAARC
• Central location in Asia
• All countries gained independence after second world war
• As a result of British Colonialism, all countries have same
cultural background and history
• The region is poor and over populated
• Predominance of agriculture
9. Objective
• Primary Objective
• Improve their quality of life & welfare of people
• To accelerate Economic Growth, Social progress and Cultural
Development
• Contribute to mutual trust and understanding
• Strengthen cooperation among themselves & other Developing
countries
10. CONTD…
• Cooperate on issue like water resources
• Secondary Objective
• SAARC also looks in critical areas like Poverty, Education,
Culture, Sport’s & Arts
11. Secretariat
• Secretariat is in Kathmandu Nepal on16 January 1987
• The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General
• Secretary General – 3 year term rotating among states
• H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem from Maldives is the current Secretary
General
• The Secretary General is assisted by eight Directors on
deputation from the Member States
• It coordinates and monitors implementation of activities
• The SAARC Secretariat and Member States observe 8
December as the SAARC Charter Day
12. Principles
• Respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political equality
and independence of all members states
• Non-interference in the internal matters is one of its objectives
• Cooperation for mutual benefit
• All decisions to be taken unanimously and need a quorum of
all eight members
• All bilateral issues to be kept aside and only
multilateral(involving many countries) issues to be discussed
without being prejudiced by bilateral issues
13. Facts and Figures
• Established- 1985 Dec.7 Dhaka
• Secretariat- Kathmandu Nepal 16 January 1987
• Secretary General – 3 years term rotating among states
• Summit:- (Heads of Government & students) highest body
meets every year
• Council of minister:- (foreign minister) meets twice a year
• Standing Committee comprising the Foreign Secretaries
• Technical Committees- Comprising representatives of member
states are responsible for the implementation. Co-ordination
and monitoring of the programme in their respective areas of
co-operation
16. Observers of SAARC
Requests by a number of countries since the Thirteenth SAARC Summit (Dhaka,
12-13 November 2005
There are nine Observers to SAARC as follows:
• Australia
• China
• European Union
• Japan
• Iran
• Mauritius
• Myanmar
• South Korea
• United States
Invited to participate in the inaugural and closing Sessions of SAARC Summits
Since the Fourteenth SAARC Summit (New Delhi, 3-4 April 2007)
SAARC’s engagement with its Observers is based on the Guidelines for
Cooperation with Observers adopted by the Fifteenth SAARC Summit (Colombo,
2-3 August 2008)
17. Challenges
• Six South Asian countries remains a small player in global
markets over 1% of total global trade
• During the eleven-year period of 1995 to 2005, South Asia’s
share in world merchandise exports marginally increased from
0.9% to 1.2%
• In 1995, South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA)
was launched but intraregional trade has failed to pick up
• In January 2006, SAARC succeeded in launching the South
Asian Free Trade Agreement South Asian Free Trade
Agreement (SAFTA) was launched, its implementation has
faced political hurdles
18. Opportunities
• Achieving greater social cohesion within India- By connecting
the diverse ethnic groups within India with their counterparts
across the borders
• Defining and defending India’s regional space- China is now
making significant efforts to improve its access to South Asian
economies and markets
19. Areas of co-operation
• Agricultural and Rural
• Cultural
• Bi-technology
• Economic and Trade
• Education
• Energy
• Finance
• Environment
• Funding Mechanism
• Information, Communication and Media
20. Areas of co-operation
• People to people contacts
• Poverty Alleviation
• Science and Technology
• Security
• Social Development
• Tourism
21. The 17th SAARC Summit,
Nov 11, 2011
• 17th SAARC Summit - Addu city, Maldives
• Place : Equatorial Convention Centre, Addu City
• Opened by : the outgoing Chair of SAARC, Prime Minister of
the Royal Government of Bhutan, H.E.Lyonchhen Jigmi
Yoezer Thinley.
• Chairperson : H.E. Mohamed Nasheed
• Theme : trade, transport and economic integration; security
issues such piracy and climate change; and good governance.
Member States to establish a commission to address issues of
gender inequalities in South Asia, bridge building
22. The 17th SAARC Summit,
Nov 11, 2011
• Attendees : Foreign/External Ministers of SAARC Member
States, the Secretary General of SAARC, the Heads of
Observer Delegation, Cabinet Ministers of the Maldives,
Ministers in the visiting delegations and other state dignitaries.
23. The 17th SAARC Summit,
Nov 11, 2011
• Agreements signed :
o SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural
Disasters
o SAARC Agreement on Multilateral Arrangement on
Recognition of Conformity Assessment
o SAARC Agreement on Implementation of Regional
Standards
o SAARC Seed Bank Agreement
24. SECRETARY-GENERAL OF SAARC WELCOMES
JAPAN’S CONTRIBUTION TO JENESYS 2.0
MARCH 22, 2013
• Welcomed Japan’s decision to contribute to the SAARC Secretariat for
the Japan-East Asia Youth Network of Exchange for Students & Youths
(JENESYS 2.0)
• Cooperation with Japan has been beneficial & the SAARC-Japan
Special Fund (SJSF) has facilitated implementation of many activities.
• JENESYS 2.0 will further strengthen SAARC-Japan relationships
through promoting people-to-people exchanges between Japan and the
SAARC countries
25. Continued
• Under JENESYS 2.0 approximately 1250 youths from SAARC
countries will visit Japan for 10 days to experience cutting edge
technologies and products; discover local specialties and cultures; and
experience historical architectures etc.
26. Secretary-General of SAARC attends the First
China-South Asia Expo
June6, 2013
• This Forum was held in Kunming on 6 June 2013.
• As per the projections both China & SAARC are poised to become
dynamic regions in the future & also they are having healthy growth over
the years.
• This Forum will provide a welcome opportunity to the entrepreneurs of
the SAARC region to explore the Chinese market with the objective of
increasing their exports to China.
• This Forum is expected to serve as a platform for economic,
technological & cultural exchanges between China & South Asian
countries.
• This five-day Expo is expected to attract more than thousand
exhibitors.
27. Secretary-General calls on Indian Dignitaries
May 6, 2013
• Informal meeting held in New Delhi from 1st to 5th of May 2013
• To discuss the issue of infrastructure which is poor in their countries &
across the region & there is a scope for investment in this field
28. Causes of Failures
• The bloc has not moved away from declarations of intent to
concrete implementation
• The proposal to establish South Asian Food Reserve and
South Asian Development Fund have also failed
• The perceptions of the failure of SAARC to implement its
charter have been affected by the political climate obtaining in
the region
29. Potential Future
Members
• China has expressed interest in upgrading its status from an
observer to a full member of SAARC
• Myanmar has expressed interest in upgrading its status from
an observer to a full member of SAARC
• Russia has expressed interest in becoming an observer of
SAARC
Therefore dependance of the economy on southwest monssonThe 11 stated areas of corporation are agriculture; education, culture, and sports; health, population, and child welfare; the environment and meteorology; rural development ( including SAARC Youth Volunteers Program); tourism; transport; Science and technology; communications
To promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of lifeTo accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potentialTo promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South AsiaTo contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s problemTo corporate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes
In April 2006, theUnited States of America and South Korea made formal requests to be granted observer status. The European Union has also indicated interest in being given observer status, and made a formal request for the same to the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting in July 2006. On 2 August 2006 the foreign ministers of the SAARC countries agreed in principle to grant observer status to the US, South Korea and the European Union.[6] On 4 March 2008, Iran requested observer status.[7] Followed shortly by the entrance of Mauritius. Myanmar has expressed interest in upgrading it's status from an observer to a full member of SAARC,[8] while Russia is interested in becoming an observer.[9][10]
SAPTA was envisaged primarily as the first step towards the transition to a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) leading subsequently towards a Customs Union, Common Market and Economic Union. In 1995, the Sixteenth session of the Council of Ministers (New Delhi, 18–19 December 1995) agreed on the need to strive for the realization of SAFTA. The SAFTA Agreement was signed on 6 January 2004 during Twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2006
For example, the China-Pakistan agreement signed in November 2006 envisions a multidimensionaleconomic partnership on energy, communication, agriculture,technical cooperation, joint investment company, etc, besides trade.23Therefore, it is important for India to ensure greater integration of theSouth Asian space. We and we should be open to all interested bilateraland multilateral agencies who may want to play a role in achieving this
