Expansion of SAARC secretariat to be discussed

The standing committee meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will thrash out the expansion plan of its secretariat in Kathmandu, sources of the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

The sources said an expert meeting was due to take place in Dhaka last week, but it could not be held due to "unavoidable reasons."

The meeting of the Standing Committee consisting of the foreignsecretaries of the seven-nation SAARC, which groups Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan, is slated to be held on Jan. 5-6 next year, the sources added.

The sources said Bangladesh will propose that poorer states of the economic bloc contribute more to the 1.5 million US dollars budget of the SAARC secretariat so that the bigger players would not feel they are bearing most of the expenses of the secretariat.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan has already expressed the willingness of Dhaka to act in line with a working paper submitted by the secretariat, the sources said, adding that the secretariat has proposed to enhance the rank of the secretary general of the SAARC equivalent to a minister, create a post of his deputy and more positions for advisers, technocrats and administrative staff.

As the major players of SAARC, the home of one fifth of the world's population and nearly half of its poor, India contributes 33 percent, Pakistan 22 percent while Bangladesh contributes 11 percent to the budget of the Kathmandu-based secretariat, the sources said

Bangladesh will propose to increase its contribution to 15 to 18 percent to ease the load of Pakistan and India, the sources added.

The 13th Summit of the SAARC will take place in Dhaka, the birth place of the economic forum, on Jan. 9-11 next year.

The expansion of the secretariat was approved by the SAARC leaders and policy makers in seminars over the past few months.

The secretariat model reportedly would be expanded in line with the secretariat of the European Union, giving it more autonomy and power.

Source: Xinhua