The Heads of State or Government of member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on Tuesday opened their 14th Summit meeting.

The SAARC was formally established in 1985 in order to strengthen and accelerate regional cooperation, particularly in economic development.

Members:

SAARC groups seven countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The 13th SAARC summit meeting approved in principle an application by Afghanistan for membership of the organization, pending formalities. The regional grouping also has five Observers -- China, Japan, Republic of Korea, the United States of America and the European Union.

Organization:

Summit Meeting -- Heads of state and of government of member states represent the body's highest authority, and a summit meeting is normally held annually. The 13th summit meeting was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in November 2005.

Council of Ministers -- The Council of Ministers comprises the ministers of foreign affairs of member countries, who meet twice a year. The Council may also meet in extraordinary session at the request of member states. The responsibilities of the Council include formulation of policies, assessing progress and confirming new areas of cooperation.

Standing Committee -- The committee consists of the secretaries of foreign affairs of member states. It has overall responsibility for the monitoring and coordination of programs and financing, and determines priorities, mobilizes resources and identifies areas of cooperation. It usually meets twice a year, and submits its reports to the Council of Ministers.

Technical Committees -- SAARC's Integrated Program of Action is implemented by several Technical Committees covering: Agriculture and rural development; Energy; Environment, meteorology and forestry; Human resource development; Science and technology; Social development; and Transport and communications. Each committee is headed by representative of a member state and meets annually.

Secretariat -- The Secretariat was established in 1987 to coordinate and oversee SAARC activities. It comprises the Secretary-General and a Director from each member country. The Secretary-General is appointed by the Council of Ministers, after being nominated by a member state and serves a three-year term of office. The incumbent SAARC Secretary General is Chenkyab Dorji from Bhutan. SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Cooperation Between SAARC and Regional and International Organizations:

SAARC has cooperation agreements with 18 international and regional organizations, including many UN agencies, European Commission, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). SAARC obtained Observer Status in the UN on December 2, 2004.

SAARC Factsheet:

SAARC is the largest regional cooperation with a population of 1.47 billion which accounts for 22 percent of the world population.

The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the SAARC countries is 932 billion U.S. dollars, which accounts for only 2 percent of the world's combined GDP.

Up to 90 percent of imports of SAARC countries are sourced from outside South Asia in 2005. Total trade amongst SAARC countries stood at 7 billion dollars in 2005 as against the total combined international trade of SAARC countries of 350 billion dollars.

India hosted the 2nd SAARC Summit in Bangalore in 1986 and the 8th SAARC Summit in New Delhi in 1995.

Source: Xinhua