SAARC will fulfil aspirations of South Asians - President

PRESIDENT Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's address at the 13th SAARC Summit which ended in Dhaka, Bangladesh yesterday.

REBUILDING in the aftermath of the divesting earthquakes, the people of Sri Lanka join me in sending our heartfelt sympathies and wishes for a speedy recovery from the human and socio-economic consequences of these tragedies.

As we assemble in the capital that witnessed the birth of SAARC, it is only appropriate that we begin by paying tribute to your late husband, who is unanimously recognized as the Founder of the Association.

It is our privilege to bestow on the late President Ziaur Rahman posthumously, the first ever SAARC Award. As stated succinctly in our citation to his memory "SAARC will remain a testimony to his vision and foresight".

The 13th SAARC Summit takes place in the aftermath of the devastating natural disasters that convulsed this region in December 2004 and more recently in October.

This underscores the need for greater cooperation amongst our members in disaster preparedness and management as well as the need for a great understanding and respect for our fragile environment.

These disasters bring to the fore important challenge for the SAARC region. By their very nature, the effects of such calamities do not respect man-made demarcations, be they inter-state or intra State.

It is a fact that natural disasters take a heavier toll in terms of human lives in populous and developing States, such as in the SAARC region.

We also remain more vulnerable to natural disasters in view of insufficient preparedness in scientific, technological and infrastructural terms. In Sri Lanka, we have enacted new legislation for disaster management and preparedness and established new institutions to implement it.

We therefore need to enhance regional cooperation, in a comprehensive manner, in terms of awareness, early warning, emergency relief,and long-term rehabilitation in order to complement the national efforts. This must be an important item for immediate decision at this Summit.

We need to urgently link our countries to an effective regional and global early warning system for earthquakes and tsunami. South Asia is ringed by the Indian Ocean and we must be alert to the threat of ocean borne disasters.

Many SAARC States have critical and extensive coastal stretches. Several initiatives in this regard are at present under consideration within the framework of UNESCO, the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the recent conference on this subject in Kobe, Japan.

South Asia must benefit from these global advances in science and technology, and be integrated into these networks.

We welcome the Special Meeting of the SAARC Environment Ministers in Male in June 2005, which recommended regional programmes and projects for early warning, preparedness and management of tsunami and other natural disasters.

We also need to promote environmental pollices that safeguard and conserve our environment and eco systems. These policies should complement any disaster mitigation measures that we put in place.

Twenty years in the evolution of an Association is an appropriate vantage point from which to assess its past performance and to chart the way forward.

As SAARC enters its third decade, an important milestone in the life of the Association, it is appropriate that we attempt to delineate its future contours in a collective "Vision for South Asia".

In Sri Lanka's view, a mutually reinforcing, multi-tiered process should constitute the vision for SAARC in the next decade.

* We envisage a region where people, investments and trade in goods and services will have unhindered mobility across national boundaries, opening up physical economic space for the well being and prosperity of our people.

Our vision looks beyond regional cooperation in trade under SAFTA, towards a future of eventual economic integration in the region. This will include a mutually supportive process of strengthening the physical, legal and technical infrastructure and overall connectivity in the region.

* Beyond an integrated South Asia, we also envisage building upon SAFTA, the SAARC region will become fully integrated into a future global architecture consisting of major trading blocs.

An Asian economic community which will include the SAARC region for example, will constitute the largest consumer conglomerate in the world.

* This process of economic cooperation must advance have in hand regional and national level initiatives to address the formidable social and human development challenges we face.

Poverty alleviation must continue to remain an over-arching goal of SAARC, as well as of individual SAARC member states at the national level.

While addressing their material needs, the people of South Asia must become the stakeholders in, and the beneficiaries of SAARC.

The people of SAARC must be empowered through a participatory process where leaders and policy makers will work collectively with the entrepreneurs, professional, thinkers and civil society to achieve the objectives of the Charter.

We are encouraged by the very active role played, even in these politically fallow periods, by the corporate sector, the business community and professional groups. They have been assiduous in promoting SAARC agendas even when Governments have lagged behind.

In articulating these contours of our vision for SAARC, Sri Lanka seeks to achieve the goal of an economically prosperous, vibrant and united South Asia, where one fifth of mankind will live in dignity and freedom.

I dare to envisage a South Asia where the benefits of cooperation will become so compelling and tangible that the spectre of inter-state or intra-state conflict will recede into obscurity, releasing resources and human energy for wealth creation.

Admittedly, this is an ambitious transformation but one that is worth striving for, not least because it has been effected in other parts of the world. I believe we have the ability to achieve this.

Looking ahead I must revert to a theme Sri Lanka has consistently advocated in our past deliberations.

We need to consider seriously how we can strengthen the SAARC Secretariat, both in terms of its capacity building and its proactive approaches to implement the decisions taken at the political level.

For this purpose, the member states should provide the necessary resources and authority and empower the Secretariat to undertake technical as well as implementational tasks by making available the requisite qualified personnel. We fully support the efforts underway to strengthen the Secretariat on these lines.

The experience in other regions whether in the case of the European Union, the African Union or ASEAN, tell us that economic integration paves the way for eventual political union. Whilst we do not need to stereotype ourselves we certainly can learn from others experiences.

Over the coming months, in the economic and trade sphere, members states will proceed to take appropriate steps to give effect to national legislation to implement provisions of the SAFTA Agreement, so that it comes into effect from January 1, 2006. We sincerely hope that a consensus will emerge on the few remaining issues on the SAFTA agenda.

In the social sphere, member states will continue to take steps to implement goals envisaged by the Social Charter.

This dual approach in trade and commerce and in social progress augurs well for the region of South Asia as it brings the collective strengths of all our peoples - leaders, policy makers, entrepreneurs, professionals, thinkers, academics and civil society representatives in fulfilling the essential principles enshrined in the SAARC charter and SAARC Social Charter.

Lanka's national implementation mechanism on the Social Charter has now been established.

In fulfilling a long standing pledge to SAARC by Sri Lanka, we have also laid the foundation for constructing the SAARC Cultural Centre at Kandy, just before we left for Dhaka.

On the subject of cultural cooperation and people contact, may I also suggest that we provide to our artists every year a collective opportunity to demonstrate their talents and skills by hosting in each of our countries annual SAARC festivals of drama, music, especially drums, song and dance, depicting our cultural heritage.

This I think would be an appropriate collective endeavour to encourage our artists and showcase to the world what SAARC culture can offer.

I am indeed truly happy to be among Sri Lanka's closest friends only a few days before I relinquish my duties as President after 11 years.

I take opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to my dear colleagues for the unstinted support and encouragement you gave me at every step along the difficult but necessary path I chose to steer my country. Your solidarity and friendship provided us the strength to go on.

I have always believed in SAARC. I have believed in its tremendous potential to ensure the well-being of our citizens and to guarantee their freedoms-freedom from poverty, from ignorance, disease and fear.

Today I go with a strengthened belief in our Association. I know that SAARC would soon succeed in fulling the dreams and aspirations of its peoples.

The SAARC Charter, which is the Constitution of our Association, commits our peoples and Governments to work together towards finding solutions to our common problems in a spirit of amity and cooperation based on mutual respect, equity and shared benefits. It is appropriate that on this occasion we re-dedicate ourselves to pursue the noble goals, objectives and principles of SAARC.

The challenge may seem great at times, but it bodes well for all of us, if we, together are to weave this great South Asian tapestry, that we call SAARC."