Ishaq Dar invites South Asian Finance Ministers to attend 8th SAARC meeting

Lahore : Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar has extended invitation to his counterparts in South Asian countries
to attend the 8th Finance Ministers Meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), scheduled to be held in Islamabad on August 26 this year.

In letters addressed to the Finance Ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the minister stated that since the last meeting held in Kathmandu in August last year, considerable progress had been achieved in finance and investment related areas.

At the same time, he stated, certain other areas related to SAARC Development Fund (SDF) required further deliberations and follow up action.

The minister expressed the hope that participation of all the members would be helpful in achieving the objectives for which SAARC has been striving since its creation.

It may be recalled that the SAARC Summit is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in November 2016.

The Finance Ministers’ meeting will precede the Summit and lay the ground work for progress on regional cooperation agenda in the areas of finance and investment to be subsequently endorsed by heads of states and government at the Summit.