The document provides an overview of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It discusses that SAARC was established in 1985 to promote economic and social progress among countries in South Asia. It outlines the history and founding of SAARC, lists its 8 member countries, and explains its objectives to accelerate economic growth and improve quality of life. The document also summarizes SAARC's organizational structure including its secretariat in Nepal and various centers, and notes challenges to furthering cooperation among members.

1. Presented by-Jaya Chakravarty
Rubina Isidore
Sheetal Chavan
Surabhi Saxena
Vibhavari Musale

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

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

7. SAARC Members

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

14. SAARC- Regional Centers
 Agricultural Information- Dhaka
 Tuberculosis- Kathmandu
 Information- Kathmandu
 Documentation- New Delhi
 Energy – Islamabad
 Metrological – Dhaka
 Disaster management center- New Delhi
 Human Resource Development- Islamabad
 SAARC forestry center- Colombo

15. SAARC Financial
Contribution
 Afghanistan, Bhutan & Maldives- 5% each
 Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka- 10.72% each
 Pakistan- 22.53%
 India- 30.31%

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

30. References
• http://saarc-sec.org/Cooperation-with-Observers/13/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:SAARC
• http://www.news.davnepal.com/news.php?count=103
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for
_Regional_Cooperation
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for
_Regional_Cooperation#Observer
• http://www.saarc-sec.org/Programming-Committee/76/
• http://www.fesnepal.org/reports/2006/seminar_reports/r
eport_IFA_SAARC.htm
• http://www.saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Charter/5/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SAARC_summits