SAARC's 26th Charter Day:

'SAARC has achieved a number of goals'

The SAARC Cultural Centre is the only Regional Centre of SAARC based in Sri Lanka out of regional centres. Since the formation of SAARC in 1985 SAARC has accomplished, achieved and realized a number of goals and objectives, as envisioned by member states, said acting External Affairs Minister Neomal Perera.

Acting minister Neomal Perera

"Today, SAARC has become increasingly important and significant to many a country, given the rapid economic, commercial and social advancement of the Region of South Asia. Today, SAARC consists of nearly (one fourth) of the global humanity as well as unique human resources and unprecedented amount of natural resources among others," he said at the 26th Charter Day of SAARC at the Waters Edge on Thursday.

Perera said the 17th SAARC Summit Declaration reaffirmed the commitment to peace, confidence building, liberty, human dignity, democracy, alleviation of poverty, reducing of inequality, mutual respect, and good governance, which would be crucial for economic and social development and for uplifting of standards of living of people of South Asia.

"Four key agreements were signed during the last summit. These agreements were on Rapid response to Natural Disasters, establishment of a SAARC Seed Bank, SAARC Agreement on Recognition of Conformity Assessment and SAARC Agreement on Regional Standards respectively. All these Agreements, once implemented and executed, would enhance economic, commercial, trading and social dimension of the Region of SAARC," he said.

"The recently held South Asia Forum, consisting of political leaders, corporate captains and academia was a positive development towards economic and regional integration. The Indian Ocean Cargo and Passenger Ferry Service which connects India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka was also an encouraging development. This initiative could have greater economic and trading activity as well as people-to-people contact among the three nations. The importance of the smooth functioning of the South Asian University in New Delhi would be of academic utility to the entire region of SAARC," the acting minister said.

He said over the last quarter of a century, the SAARC has progressed and advanced, thus extending benefit to the peoples of the Region of SAARC.

"Some of the notable achievements in the recent past that SAARC has realized were greater focus on environment and climate change, the formation of SAARC Free Trade Area known as SAFTA, which would improve intra regional trade and investment among the member states," he said.

"The establishment of the SAARC Development Fund, known as SDF, was most beneficial to the member states since it extends assistance for viable projects in the region of SAARC.

Sri Lanka is the focal point of SAARC Terrorism Offences Desk and SAARC Drug Offences Desk. These two Desks, based in Colombo, monitor and share information among the member states with regard to drug trafficking and terrorism related issues. This year alone, the SAARC has conducted nearly 300 programmes, seminars, workshops and training sessions for the officials of the member states. These would benefit the respective officials to conduct their functions with greater degree of effectiveness and knowledge," Perera said.

In conclusion, the acting minister said the strength and capacity of SAARC region has been put to an "Economic Test", what economists would call a "Stress Test".

"This is in the context of global economic and financial crisis, which most of the developed countries are confronting. I am most pleased to state that the eight-member region of SAARC have passed this test. Our region has not been affected as much as most other regions in the world. Our region is recording a GDP growth in the range of six percent to nine percent, which is most impressive.

"This is a clear reflection of the potential and the stability of the region of SAARC, let alone its future promise," he said.

"It is often being stated that the 21st century belongs to Asia and in particular, to the South and South East Asia. Before I conclude, I wish to state that Geography has made us neighbours, history has made us friends, economics have made us partners and necessity has made us allies. Today, these words are only more true than they were five decades ago," he said.