Background

The desire of member countries to shift from "declaration" to "implementation" in the area of regional cooperation has prompted SAARC to call for a review of its institutional mechanisms to facilitate regional cooperation and integration (RCI). This has led to the holding of a regional consultative meeting to deliberate on ways and means to strengthen SAARC institutional mechanisms to facilitate RCI in South Asia.

Objectives

This Consultative Meeting aims to provide policy recommendations to strengthen the SAARC and its institutional mechanisms. It is expected that the Meeting will provide insights that could contribute to discussions on RCI at the forthcoming SAARC Summit to be held in Maldives in November 2011.

Target participants

Participation is by invitation only

• former SAARC Secretary Generals
• heads of SAARC divisions of SAARC member states
• directors of SAARC secretariat
• selected representatives of the regional academia
• civil society
• experts on ASEAN and EU institutional mechanisms