The information ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will meet in Kathmandu next week to discuss the common agendas on the development of the information sector, a Nepali government official said here Wednesday.

"The upcoming ministerial meeting will discuss on the plan of action for the development of information sector, which will forward recommendations to the 13th SAARC Summit to be held in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka in November," Suresh Man Shrestha, joint secretary at the Ministry of Information of Communication told Xinhua.

The ministerial level meeting will be held on Aug. 29 and 30, Shrestha noted, adding, "Nepali Ministry of Information and Communication, and Foreign Affairs, SAARC Secretariat and SAARC Information Center are busy in doing homework for the meeting."

The first ministerial meeting held in Dhaka in 1998 had come up with an 18-point action plan for the development of the information sector.

Another meeting held in Pakistan last year agreed to implement the 18-point action plan that calls for observing 2007 as the SAARC Media Year in addition to enhancing multi-lateral media cooperation to ensure free flow of information among the member states.

Source: Xinhua