SAARC co-operation in energy, hydro-power stressed

Foreign minister Dipu Moni has stressed greater cooperation among the SAARC member countries in energy, hydro-power, and physical connectivity.
She said at the inaugural session of a conference on ‘Regional Integration: SAARC’ organised by the Policy Research Institute in the city on January 27.
Sri Lankan deputy minister of finance Sarath Amunugama, among others, was present in the session.
Citing successes of other regional blocs, Dipu said regional groups like the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had entailed cooperation in three dimensions – govt to govt, business to business, and people to people.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation first embarked on G2G and then P2P cooperation. In recent years, she said, it realised the importance of B2B cooperation for accruing more meaningful economic benefits.
The foreign minister said P2P and B2B cooperation should be more rigorous, if the SAARC member countries really wished to further the progress towards regional integration.
Sarath Amunugama MP, senior minister of International Monetary Cooperation, Sri Lanka was the chief guest at the second session of the conference.

Amongst the discussants were Dinesh Bhattarai, former ambassador of Nepal to Switzerland, Simon Shen, professor of social science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Abdul Muyeed Choudhury, former adviser of the caretaker government, and Qamar Rahim, former secretary general of SAARC.

The two sessions of the conference on the second day on January 28 dealt with the role of the media in SAARC countries, regional connectivity, strengthening police cooperation among the SAARC countries, the need for a single SAARC currency on the EU model, climate change and challenges in South Asia, role of the youth in cultural promotion within SAARC and the present and future of higher education in SAARC region.

Shamsher Mubin Choudhury, former foreign secretary of Bangladesh, was the chief guest on the second day of the conference.

Valerie Taylor, founder of Center for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, presented her paper on the physical and medical care and counseling of the handicapped in Bangladesh and other SAARC countries.

Amongst the discussants were Dinesh Bhattarai, former ambassador of Nepal to Switzerland, Simon Shen, professor of social science of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Iqbal Ahmed, director of SAARC, Bangladesh Foreign Office.

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