SAARC Info Minister Conference ends with resolve for Media cooperation
By Aisha Masood - Pakistan Times Staff Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: The day-long deliberations of 4th meeting of the Information Ministers of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) concluded here Wednesday evening with the firm resolve to enhance the media cooperation among the member states.

The meeting was chaired by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who earlier was elected chairman of the meeting.

Information Minister of Bangladesh Shamsul Islam presented vote of thanks and said "it is indeed a great occasion for me as we are poised to host the next SAARC Summit in Dhaka in a few weeks time".

"I can assure all present here that final touches are being given to the preparatory work of the forthcoming 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka", he said. "We are determined to carry forward the spirit of regional cooperation which we all agreed more than two decades ago",he added.

He said, this morning at the inaugural session, the Chairman of Senate in his statement made an auspicious beginning of our meeting. "We are most impressed with the way you as the chairman guided our proceedings and brought it to its successful conclusion."

The members exchanged views on further strengthening cooperation in different areas of information and media, Shamsul Islam said.

With Sheikh Rashid Ahmed as Chairman of the meeting, "we have conducted our proceedings in a business like fashion and in the most efficient way. We have finished our work ahead of schedule."

Report of the Meeting

He said the Report of the Meeting adopted in the meeting, would be considered at the 13th Summit in Dhaka and hoped that the leaders will endorse these recommendations.

He said "I thank all the delegates and members of the Secretariat for the timely production of the Report and other documents for the meeting". He praised the role of the Secretary General saying he deserves special commendation for facilitating the discussions.

"I, on behalf of my colleagues from visiting SAARC member states would like to express our gratitude to our generous host, the Minister of Information, Government of Pakistan and his able team of officials for the warm hospitality and support throughout our stay in Pakistan."

"All the conference related functionaries deserve our appreciation for the excellent arrangements. I thank everybody associated with the successful conclusion of our meeting," he added.

Inaugural session

Earlier, while addressing the inaugural session of the moot, Chairman Senate, Mohammadmian Soomro on Wednesday called for broadening the terms of reference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for developing all-round cooperation.

"To achieve the sense of security and mutual trust that is a pre-requisite for developing all- round cooperation, we need to broaden the terms of reference of SAARC that presently exclude political disputes and contentious issues," he said.

Soomro said the leaderships on both sides have taken steps for getting closer the two countries and advancing towards alleviation of poverty and illiteracy. Poverty is the crucial issue in the region whereas education and water issues also needed much attention from the policy makers, he said.

Info Minister

Minister of Information Shaikh Rashid in his address said that the earlier conferences have strengthened cooperation among the SAARC member countries in fields of information and information technology.

The world is undergoing a revolution in the information technology sector and the key objective of the conference is to get benefit from the mutual experiences, he said.

Naveen B. Chawla

The leader of the Indian delegation Naveen B. Chawla addressing the conference said that SAARC was formed to promote development and prosperity of the people in the region.

India wants exchange of information material, newspapers, journals, news agencies and other facilities, he said.

SAARC Secretary General

The Secretary General of SAARC, who is from Bangladesh, QAMA Rahim said that in this age of rapid development of media SAARC member countries should get benefit from mutual experiences.●