...ESSAY ON SAARC by a2zcontentinfo @ 2013-05-04 – 06:33:44 The member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are called the Seven Sisters of South Asia, because of their geographical proximity and relations based on culture, ethnicity and economics. SAARC came into existence in December 1985, at Dhaka, Bangladesh.It has 8 countries as members, they are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan. Secretariat was located at Kathmandu. Main Objectives of SAARC Charter: To improve quality of life and promote welfare of the peoples of South Asia. - To accelerate economic growth, social and cultural development in the region. - To promote self-reliance among the countries of South Asian Region. - To generate mutual trust and understanding of each others problems. - To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries. - To cooperate on matters of common interest in international fora. - To strengthen cooperation with regional and global organisations. Population and Economic Potential: 1.4 billion people, one-fifth of the World’s population. Home to one-fifth of the World’s consumers with an average yearly income of $ 450. The SAARC region with a total market size of one and quarter billion people offers enormous potential for Intra-regional trade and cross-border investment. Intra-SAARC trade is less than 5 per cent. The SAARC region is among the poorest regions of the world. The region has...
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...Expanding Horizons and Forging Cooperation in a Resurgent Asia SAARC 2015 The New Delhi Statement on SAARC 2015 and Asian Resurgence © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, March 2007 Published by: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office K-70B, Hauz Khas Enclave New Delhi Email: fes@fesindia.org Edited by: Kant K. Bhargava and Mahendra P. Lama Designed and printed by: New Concept Information Systems Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi ISBN 81-7440-065-6 Contents Foreword Preface Background Paper Inaugural Address by I.K. Gujral Group Reports New Delhi Statement Annexures: (i) Programme (ii) List of Participants & Special Invitees (iii) List of Written Papers and Presentations Related Publications iv vi 1 17 23 45 56 71 Foreword As part of its programme for the promotion of regional cooperation in South Asia, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung organised the Conference on SAARC 2015: Expanding Horizons and Forging Cooperation in a Resurgent Asia in February 2007 in New Delhi in collaboration with Ambassador Kant K. Bhargava, former Secretary-General of SAARC, and Prof. Mahendra Lama, Chairman, Centre for South, Central, South East Asian and South West Pacific Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The main thrust of the Conference was that the SAARC as an entity and its member states must prepare themselves well for leveraging the opportunities arising from the current resurgence in Asia. The Background Paper for the Conference was prepared...
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...The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organisation ofSouth Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development within the South Asia region and also for friendship and co-operation with other developing countries. It is dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Afghanistan joined the organisation in 2007. Meetings of heads of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually. It is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The objectives and the aims of the Association as defined in the Charter are:[3] • to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; • to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realise their full potential ; • to promote and strengthen selective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia; • to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; • to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical...
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...SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION INTRODUCTION: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of South Asian nations, founded in 1985 and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasizing collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2007. Meetings of heads of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually. Headquarters are in Kathmandu, Nepal HISTORY: The concept of SAARC was first adopted by than Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman. In the late 2000s, Indian President G.N.V Sampath proposed the creation of a trade bloc consisting of South Asian countries. The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was again mooted in May 2001. The foreign secretaries of the seven countries met for the first time in Colombo in April 2002. The Committee of the Whole, which met in Colombo in August 2002, identified five broad areas for regional cooperation. New areas of cooperation were added in the following years.[1] The objectives of the Association as defined in the Charter are:[2] * to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; * to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize...
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...SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION (SAARC) The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) consist the seven states; China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indian, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Officially came into existence in 1985 with the adopting of its Rent at the first meeting in Dhaka (December 7-8, 1985). The idea of regional cooperation was first recommended through ‘a regional forum’ by Bangladesh in 1980, with a perspective to positioning regular regional stage solutions among nations in Southern region, Japan on concerns of typical attention and possible cooperation in financial, public and other areas. The reasoning was mainly predicated on the assumption that regional encounters anywhere in the globe had been highly successful and that the areas in the Southern region Oriental area would benefit substantially from such cooperation as it would enhance their aggressive position, both independently and as a group. The Bangladesh offer recommendation that built in sense highly validated regional cooperation, particularly among Southern region China, because the nations in the area enjoy regional contiguity, traditional, public and cultural affinities which would act as synchronization and to reducing of deal costs. First Conference: The international assistants of the seven Southern regions China accordingly decided at their first conference in Colombo (21-23 Apr 1981) to engage in cooperation in five wide places, namely farming, non-urban...
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... South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development within the South Asia region and also for friendship and co-operation with other developing countries. It is dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2007. Meetings of heads of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually. It is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The combined economy of SAARC is the 3rd largest in the world in the terms of GDP (PPP) after the United States and China and 5th largest in the terms of nominal GDP. SAARC nations comprise 3% of the world's area and contain 21% (around 1.7 billion) of the world's total population and around 9.12% of Global economy as of 2015. SAARC also home to world's 3rd & 7th largest Economy of world in GPP(PPP) & GDP(Nominal) terms respectively as well as World's fastest growing major Economy, that is...
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...SAARC Ministerial Declaration on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism ***** We, the Foreign Ministers of Member States of SAARC, are deeply concerned about the continuing scourge of terrorism afflicting the region which has caused extensive social disharmony, loss of human life, destruction and damage to property. Terrorism poses a serious threat to peace and cooperation, and friendly and good neighbourly relations. It jeopardises the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of States, while constituting a serious violation of fundamental human rights. We renew our commitment to strengthening comprehensive region-wide cooperation among SAARC Member States to combat and eliminate all forms and manifestations of terrorism and in this context affirm the need to reinforce further the regional legal regime and instituting pragmatic cooperation to address this issue effectively. We also recognise that our cooperation shall proceed on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States consistent with the SAARC Charter. As we meet in Colombo, at the Thirty-first Session of the Council of Ministers, we solemnly declare and agree to undertake the following measures of cooperation: 1. We reiterate our commitment to implement measures against organising, instigating, facilitating, financing, fund raising, encouraging, tolerating and providing training for or otherwise...
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...• The biggest problem faced by any SAARC country is poverty. Poverty has a wide spectrum of causes which vary from country to country. Issues like Naxalism in India, Civil wars in Sri Lanka, Terrorism in Pakistan have a direct link to poverty. Illiteracy and ignorance have resulted in an unbridled rise in population in many under developed nations. This is one of the alarming problems faced by the world considering its impact on global food and commodity market. The impact is so severe that, India which once was an exporter of food grains became an importer. The literacy rate of a country is dependent on socio-economic status of the people. This problem can be viewed from the other side in a different way. Though the land under cultivation in India is more than that of China, Indian agriculture can't feed its own people, while the Chinese could feed themselves. 60% people in India rely on agriculture directly, but its contribution towards GDP is just around 20% to 30% .Lack of implementation of modern technology in the field of agriculture, fragmented land holdings, low irrigation potential, unviable returns etc can be shown as the causes here. Considering the GDP as the bench mark for development of a country, India registered a growth rate around 9% only after globalization in 1991. This clearly indicates that market based economy with minimum regulations encourage entrepreneurship. Survival of small scale and micro level industries is one of the key aspects in the success...
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...Enhancing Intra-SAARC Trade: Pruning India’s Sensitive List under SAFTA Nisha Taneja Saon Ray Neetika Kaushal Devjit Roy Chowdhury April 2011 List of Abbreviations FTA - Free Trade Agreement ISLFTA - India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement LDC - Least Developed Contracting State NLDC - Non-Least Developed Contracting State RCA - Revealed Comparative Advantage SAARC - South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SAFTA - South Asia Free Trade Agreement WITS - World Integrated Trade Solution Key words Revealed Comparative Advantage Is a ratio of the shared of given product in a country’s export to its share in world export. The revealed comparative advantage is an index used in international economics for calculating the relative advantage or disadvantage of a certain country in a certain class of goods or services as evidenced by trade flows. Concessions-mean tariff and non-tariff privileged by agreement under Tariff Liberalization Programme. Sensitive list-A list of items agreed by all member countries which are vulnerable to competition. It is the products of which will not be subject to tariff reduction. Notified Sensitive List- Is the original list at the time inception of SFTA Operational Sensitive List-Is the list constructed after taking all Central Board of Excise Customs notification into account Non-tariff measures- Include any measure, regulation or practice other than tariff Introduction The last two decades have witnessed a number...
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...|South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) | |List[show] | |දකුණු ආසියාතික කලාපීය සහයෝගිතා සංවිධානය | |दक्षिण एशियाई क्षेत्रीय सहयोग संगठन (दक्षेस) | |दक्षिण एशियाली क्षेत्रीय सहयोग संगठन (सार्क) | |সাউথ এশিয়ান এসোসিয়েশন ফর রিজিওনাল কো-অপারেশন (সার্ক) | |د سویلي اسیا لپاره د سیمه ایزی همکارۍ ټولنه | |جنوبی ایشیائی علاقائی تعاون کی تنظیم | |ދެކުނު އޭޝިޔާގެ ސަރަޙައްދީ އެއްބާރުލުމުގެ ޖަމިއްޔާ | |தெற்காசிய நாடுகளின் பிராந்தியக் கூட்டமைப்பு (சார்க்) | |[pic] | | | | | | | |[pic] | | Members States | | Observers States | |Headquarters |Kathmandu, Nepal...
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...* Introduction of project:- SAARC:- The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development within the South Asia region and also for friendship and cooperation with other developing countries. It is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. ASEAN:- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam then joined in 1984, Viet Nam on in 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN. * Objective of research project:- SAARC:- * It aims at increasing people to people contact and sharing of information among the SAARC members. * It encourages active collaboration in economic, technical and scientific fields * It promotes qualiy of life and economic growth in the region. ASEAN:- * To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation...
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...FDI IN ASEAN AND SAARC: A COMPARISON OF THE TWO MAJOR TRADING BLOCKS Foreign direct investment Foreign direct investment is a foreign investment that establishes a lasting interest in or effective management control over an enterprise. Foreign direct investment can include buying shares of an enterprise in another country, reinvesting earnings of a foreign- owned enterprise in the country where it is located, and parent firms extending loans to their foreign affiliates. International monetary fund (IMF) guidelines consider an investment to be a foreign direct investment if it accounts for at least 10 percent of the foreign firm's voting stock of shares. However, many countries set a higher threshold because 10 percent is often not enough to establish effective management control of a company or demonstrate an investor's lasting interest. Entities making direct investments typically have a significant degree of influence and control over the company into which the investment is made. Open economies with skilled workforces and good growth prospects tend to attract larger amounts of foreign direct investment than closed, highly regulated economies. FDI is the sum of equity capital, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown the balance of payments. FDI usually involves participation in management, joint-venture, transfer of technology and expertise. There are two types of FDI: inward and outward, resulting in a net FDI inflow (positive or negative) and "stock...
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...Pro Poor Growth. 01 (01) 2013. 19-28 ISSN: 2306-1669 (Online), 2310-4686 (Print) Journal of Pro Poor Growth An International Perspective http://www.escijournals.net/JPPG ACHIEVEMENTS OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS) IN SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL CORPORATIONS (SAARC) COUNTRIES: A CASE OF NEPAL Kushum Shakya* Central Department of Economics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. ABSTRACT South Asian Association of Regional Cooperative (SAARC) countries have achieved considerable progress in socioeconomic indicators like poverty reduction, educational attainment and improved health facilities. The progress, however, is not uniform across the countries. The aim of this paper is to assess the progress made by SAARC with regard to selected Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its achievement and gap in Nepal. The paper shows; i) Status of SAARC countries with respect to selected MDGs, ii) Achievements of MDGs in the case of Nepal and iii) the gaps to achieving the targets. The paper shows that the most SAARC countries including Nepal have performed poorly with MDGs. It is therefore concluded that there is need to prioritize to meet all goals in post MDGs for Nepal. Keywords: SAARC, MDG, Post-MDG, socio-economic. INTRODUCTION The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted...
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...Introduction: SAARC, NAFTA and EU are the three regional organizations situated in three different continents Asia, North America and Europe respectively. Among them EU is well establish governance system with a unique parliament comprise by the member state. SAARC and NAFTA are not having a governance system compare to EU. In the economic perspective NAFTA is the largest trade bloc in the world in terms purchasing power parity. EU is holding the second positive and SAARC is comparative weak in all aspect than the two. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical organization of eight South Asian nations. Ex-president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman was the one who made a formal proposal on May 2, 1980. The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka on 8 December 1985, when the organization was established. Afghanistan is the only new inclusion that happened since SAARC was established. Every decision SAARC takes and every policy it frames is guided by the overall objectives it had set for itself in the charter. Although promoting “welfare economics” and “collective self-reliance” among the South Asian nations are the commonly quoted objectives, yet there are some equally important focus areas which need a mention. “Accelerating economic growth” and cultural development in South Asia is one of the priorities, which come under the broader goal of improving quality of life. Ref: Francesco...
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...India’s Trade with SAARC Countries (Value in US $ Billion) | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2010-11 (April-Oct) | 2011-12 (April-Oct) | Exports | India’s Total | 126.41 | 163.13 | 185.30 | 178.75 | 251.13 | 123.17 | 170.11 | % share of SAARC countries | 5.12 | 5.91 | 4.62 | 4.69 | 5.13 | 4.65 | 3.76 | Imports | India’s Total | 185.74 | 251.65 | 303.70 | 288.37 | 369.77 | 208.821 | 277.26 | % share of SAARC countries | 0.81 | 0.84 | 0.60 | 0.57 | 0.59 | 0.55 | 0.52 | Source:DGCI&S Highlights of Trade with SAARC | * During April-October 2011-12, Sri Lanka was the largest trading partner of India in SAARC region. * During April-October 2011-12, India has recorded a negative growth rate of exports with Nepal and Pakistan in SAARC region. * During April-October 2011-12, the lowest decline in growth of exports was recorded for Pakistan at (-) 34.93%. * Except for Bhutan, India runs a trade surplus with all other trading partners. | Bilateral Trade with Pakistan (Value in US $ million) Year | Exports | Imports | Total Trade | Balance of Trade | 2006-07 | 1350.09 | 323.62 | 1673.71 | 1026.47 | 2007-08 | 1950.53 | 287.97 | 2238.50 | 1662.56 | 2008-09 | 1439.88 | 370.17 | 1810.05 | 1069.71 | 2009-10 | 1573.32 | 275.94 | 1849.26 | 1297.38 | 2010-11 | 2333.67 | 332.51 | 2666.18 | 2001.16 | 2010-11 (APril-Oct) | 1066.90 | 201.16 | 1268.06 | 865.74 | 2011-12 (APril-Oct) | 694.25 | 226.16 | 920.41 | 468.09 | Source:...
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