SAARC, platform for regional cooperation - Dr Sarath Amunugama

Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama said SAARC gives a platform where people can discuss issues relating to regional cooperation and integration.

He said so while addressing a two-day conference on Regional Integration: SAARC organized by Policy Research Institute (PRI) in Dhaka, Bangladesh recently.

Dy Minister Dr Amunugama

Dr Sarath Amunugama said "experts see sluggishness in SAARC compared with other regional organizations such as ASEAN, EU. We will not do justice to SAARC if we go for such straight comparison without taking into consideration historical, political and economic aspects."

He said the successes of SAARC can be assessed from its impressive gains over the years. In the economic front, Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and on the Trade in Services (SATIS), establishment of SAARC Arbitration Council, Agreement on Customs Matter, Agreement on establishing the SAARC Food Bank and the SAARC Seed Bank, Agreement on Conformity Assessment and on Regional Standard for products, are the major breakthroughs.

"In the social sector, SAARC Convention on Combating and Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, Convention on Promotion of Welfare of Children, Convention on Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters, Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and the SAARC Social Charter are the milestones of achievements."

Dr Amunugama said "If we look into the successes in other regional blocks, we shall see that regional groups (EU, ASEAN) have entailed cooperation on three dimensions i.e. G2G (Govt. to Govt.), B2B (Business to Business) and P2P (People to People). SAARC first embarked on G2G and then on P2P. In recent years, it has realized the importance of B2B cooperation for accruing more economic benefits. Cooperation at P2P and B2B should be more rigorous if we wish to further the progress towards regional integration."

He said SAARC's future depends on its ability to address such challenges. The practice of informal and behind-the-scenes discussions among political leaders has helped contain many difficult situations in the region. This has contributed to confidence building process in South Asia.

"There are instances that SAARC leaders discussed bilateral issues on the sidelines of SAARC Summits and such discussions yielded results.

"This process of confidence-building should be carried forward until we agree to formalize it. Greater interaction under SAARC among civil societies, think-tanks and private sectors may hasten the process. SAARC has embraced such a challenge by forming South Asia Forum (SAF). The forum is meant to be a platform for debates, discussions and the exchange of ideas on South Asia," Dr Amunugama said.