South Asian leaders meet to promote economic ties

South Asian leaders meet to promote economic ties

MALE, Maldives (Reuter): Leaders of seven South Asian states began a daylong "retreat" yesterday seeking to overcome bilateral hostilities and trade barriers that have restrained economic growth in the region.

They were meeting at the Kurumba Village beach resort, a tiny island in the sparkling necklace of 1,190 islands that make up the Maldives, the host nation and smallest member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

"At their retreat, the leaders will discuss the speeches made at the opening ceremony and hold bilateral talks after lunch," Maldivian Tourism Minister and former SAARC secretary-general Ibrahim Zaki told Reuters in an interview.

The retreat came on the second day of the three-day summit and was the main opportunity to thrash out problems dogging the 12- year-old bloc.

Maldivian security forces have imposed tight security around the resort, deploying uniformed and plain-clothed guards and patrol boats mounted with guns to protect the visiting leaders.

Delegates said yesterday's talks would focus on ways to accelerate growth in the member states, which have 1.2 billion people -- one fifth of the world's population -- by scrapping non-tariff trade barriers and increasing cross-border commerce.

Intra-regional trade still accounts for only three percent of SAARC's total world trade.

SAARC comprises the Himalayan kingdoms of Bhutan and Nepal, the Indian Ocean island nations of the Maldives and Sri Lanka, mostly Hindu India and its Moslem-majority neighbors, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The leaders were also expected to discuss a joint declaration setting the agenda for the future of the organization to be issued at the end of the summit today.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who urged member states at Monday's opening meeting to "wake up from the slumber of inaction", was to miss the retreat and the closing session.

Sharif left the summit yesterday morning to attend a meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization grouping Pakistan, Iran and the newly independent Central Asian states being held in Turkmenistan.

The summit opened in the Maldivian capital Monday with calls to address bilateral problems that have frustrated efforts to pull the region out of poverty.

Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, SAARC's new chairman, has said the bloc should start a separate but parallel political dialog to overcome the mistrust in the region that has slowed progress toward economic integration.

"Such a process would also make more effective the role of SAARC as a confidence building mechanism," he said Monday.

The association's charter prohibits the discussion at its official forums of contentious bilateral issues that could hamper regional cooperation, but the retreats are meant for informal face-to-face talks among leaders.

SAARC leaders said efforts to set up a SAARC free trade area by the turn of the century had not been as successful as hoped, and agreed to launch a review to revitalize the bloc.

Gayoom's call for more political dialog was echoed by Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who suggested more frequent, informal and confidential talks among SAARC leaders.

The opening day of the summit was dominated by a meeting between the prime ministers of the region's two biggest states, India and Pakistan, whose rivalry has frustrated SAARC's efforts to pull the region out of poverty.