The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed Monday said Bangladesh firmly believes that SAARC and regional cooperation and sharing of resources among the member countries can help remove poverty from this region.

He said the majority of the people living below the poverty line are in South Asian region.

The Chief Adviser made the remarks when outgoing Secretary General of SAARC Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji made a farewell call on him at his office. Dorji said Bangladesh has been playing a major role in promoting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and said the 13th and 14th SAARC Summits took major decisions which were the turning points of the forum in terms of time-bound and result-oriented decisions and events.

The 13th summit was held in Dhaka while the 14th in New Delhi in April last.

Expressing gratitude to Bangladesh government's support in discharging his duties, the SAARC secretary general said most of his tenure was during the period of Bangladesh's SAARC Chairmanship.

Dorji said Bangladesh has successfully hosted three SAARC Summits since its inception. "Bangladesh is the only country which carried out most of the SAARC activities, including holding of 14 ministerial meetings out of about 42 meetings, which demonstrates the country's commitment to the regional forum."

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin who attended the 14th SAARC Summit said the 14th summit has focused on addressing four major areas-water, power, energy and climate change.

He appreciated the contribution of Chenkyab Dorjii as SAARC secretary general and termed his tenure as successful and productive, according to CA's Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim who was present at the meeting.

Referring to the progress of the forum, Dorji informed that Mauritius and Australia have applied for being SAARC observers.

He also said the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and Japan have shown interest in funding SAARC.

The SG said SAARC Secretariat has taken initiatives for an orientation programme to make new SAARC members like Afghanistan familiarise with the SAARC process.

He said SAARC observer countries Japan, China and South Korea also want to participate in the forum's activities.

The CA said he had noticed in the last SAARC Summit that the observer countries showed a lot of interest to participate in the forum's activities.