KATHMANDU, Jan 7: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand has reiterated Nepal’s commitment to regional cooperation for development.
Nepal as a founder member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and also as the current chairperson of the SAARC has always accorded highest priority to the process of regional cooperation aimed at the betterment of the lives of the peoples of South Asia, said Prime Minister Chand.
Speaking at a programme on “South Asia Center Policy Studies-Task Force Study Findings” Prime Minister Chand said that there was no alternative to regional cooperation in South Asia.
The region’s potential and vast resources can be optimally used by all through effective and extensive cooperation. When regionalism is gaining ground everywhere, South Asia should not lag behind others, Prime Minister Chand added.
“The challenges within the region and those coming from the outside world can best be tackled only through cooperation and collaboration. It is our fervent hope that meaningful and accelerated pace of cooperation in diverse social and economic fields would also lead to an enhanced level of trust and understanding in the region, ” he said.
The areas covered by the six task forces are not only relevant to South Asian prosperity, the are indispensable for acceleration of the pace of sustainable development in the region in this competitive world. The 11th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu last year focused on these areas besides poverty alleviation and envisioned a roadmap for the region towards the creation of a South Economic Union, said Prime Minister Chand.
He further said that a proactive role by the civil society in deliberations on development issues would not only highlight the potential and importance of regional cooperation, but also help enhance the cooperative endeavors for the overall progress and prosperity of the countries in the region.
Secretary General of the SAARC QAMA Rahim, speaking at the function, said that the SAARC has had useful interactions with the international community in the promotion of economic cooperation. SAARC is also considering collaborating with the World Bank on proposals in the fields of poverty alleviation and trade promotion. Such collaborative arrangements have been of immense use for building the institutional capacity for regional cooperation in these areas, he said.
“South Asia possesses vast potential for hydro-electricity as well as enormous resources of coal and gas that are yet to be tapped fully. For the benefit of the region as a whole, there is a need for a more coordinated regional approach in the development of energy resources and their rational distribution and usage.”
Prof. Rehman Sobhan, executive director of the Dhaka-based South Asia Center for Policy Studies (SACEPS) said that the civil society could play a dynamic role in the effective integration of regional efforts for economic development and poverty alleviation.
Executive Director of the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) Dr. Dwarika Nath Dhugel said that the role of civil society in accelerating regional cooperation was vital.
Later experts discussed various facets of the Common Investment Strategy for South Asia. Vice chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Shanker Sharma stressed the need for enhancing the possibility of harnessing resources in South Asia. Prof. Bishwombhar Pyakurel and Dr. Dilli Raj Khanal commented on the paper by Dr. Faisal Bari and Dr. Ali Cheema of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) of Pakistan.