India hosted the Second Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers here. Shri P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Finance was elected as the Chairperson of the Meeting. Following is the text of the statement made by the Finance Minister at the press conference after the conclusion of the meeting:
“The Hon'ble Ministers of the SAARC Member Countries reviewed the progress made in SAARC since the First Meeting of the SAARC Finance Ministers held in Islamabad in July 2006. The Hon'ble Ministers, in their country statements, informed the distinguished gathering about the domestic financial situation and the reforms being undertaken in their respective countries.
They lauded the recent initiatives in SAARC including SAFTA, increasing harmonization of financial norms between Member States that have led to increase in the growth of the South Asian economies.
In keeping with the spirit of the decisions taken at the 14th SAARC Summit to move SAARC from the declaratory to the implementation stage, the Ministers had constructive and focused deliberations identifying specific areas for cooperation in the field of finance.
All Member States agreed that early operationalization of SAARC Development Fund (SDF) should be expedited by an urgent finalization of its Agreement. This would accelerate the implementation of sub-regional projects identified under its Social Window.
They approved the recommendation of the Finance Secretaries on identifying threeareas namely Maternal and Child Health; Women's empowerment; and Capacity Building for enhancing the quality of education for project implementation under SDF.
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