Saarc group

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Transcript of Saarc group

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Presented by-Jaya Chakravarty Rubina Isidore

Sheetal Chavan Surabhi Saxena

Vibhavari Musale

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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

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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

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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

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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

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SAARC Members

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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

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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

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CONTD…• Cooperate on issue like water resources• Secondary Objective• SAARC also looks in critical areas like Poverty, Education,

Culture, Sport’s & Arts

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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

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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

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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

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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

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SAARC Financial Contribution

Afghanistan, Bhutan & Maldives- 5% each  Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka- 10.72% each Pakistan- 22.53% India- 30.31%

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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)

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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

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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

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Areas of co-operation• Agricultural and Rural• Cultural• Bi-technology• Economic and Trade• Education• Energy• Finance• Environment• Funding Mechanism• Information, Communication and Media

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Areas of co-operation• People to people contacts• Poverty Alleviation• Science and Technology• Security• Social Development• Tourism

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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 

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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

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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/report_IFA_SAARC.htm

• http://www.saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Charter/5/• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SAARC_summits

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