Kathmandu, April 23 : Amjad Hussain B. Sial, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), has viewed intra-regional economic integration as the backbone of SAARC’s progress. “As envisaged by leaders at the eighteenth SAARC Summit, our ultimate goal is to achieve South Asian Economic Union in a phased and planned manner through a tree trade area, a customs union, a common market and a common economic and monetary union,” he said addressing the inaugural session of the Sixth South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference on Professionalisation of Public Procurement for Better Performance in Thimphu, Bhutan on Monday (April 22)
“Public procurement is yet to become a part of formally agreed areas of regional cooperation under the auspices of SAARC. This sector, however, does have great importance for the economies of all the South Asian countries. We, therefore, highly value the convening of this Conference on Public Procurement,” said the Secretary-General. A clear roadmap on grievance redressable mechanism, including the dispute settlement process, could help improve efficiency in public procurement, he added.
The Secretary-General also briefed the participants about the South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO). Organized by the Kingdom of Bhutan in collaboration with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the conference that started today is scheduled to conclude on April 25. RSS
