By Xinhua,
Colombo : Four agreements will be signed when the eight heads of state or government of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations meet on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3 in Colombo for the 15th SAARC summit, Sri Lanka’s official newspaper said Wednesday.
According to the Daily News, the four agreements relate to the setting up of a SAARC Development Fund, a South Asia Standards Institution, the accession of Afghanistan to the South Asian Free Trade Agreement, and obtaining mutual assistance in criminal matters.
The newspaper quoted Export Development and International Trade Minister G. L. Peiris as saying that the 15th SAARC summit will mark the significant transformation of the regional organization from the declaratory stage to the implementation stage after 23 years.
Among the key issues presently being discussed by the SAARC committees which would pave the way to the heads of state or government summit are poverty alleviation, food security, energy crisis, terrorism and climate change, Peiris was quoted as saying.
The SAARC was established when its charter was formally adopted on Dec. 8, 1985 by the heads of state or government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
In April 2007, at the association’s 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member.
With almost 1.5 billion people, the regional organization provides a platform for the peoples of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding.
It aims to accelerate the process of economic and social development in member states.