President Dr Mohamed Waheed has sent a message on the occasion of this year’s SAARC Charter Day.
President Waheed’s message reads as follows:
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As we mark the Twenty Seventh Anniversary of the founding of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), it gives me great pleasure to extend warm greetings from the people and Government of the Republic of Maldives to the Governments and peoples of SAARC Member States.
SAARC stands as the sole regional platform in South Asia which brings together Governments in the region to create links, build bridges and form cooperative partnerships in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding. This collaboration has reinforced the determination of the South Asian people to realize their dreams and aspirations of building an economically prosperous, socially progressive, technologically advanced and culturally enriched regional community.
Since the convening of the Seventeenth SAARC Summit in Addu City, major issues of importance and relevance to the region have been discussed and significant progress made. In this regard, Male’ Resolution on Regional Health Issues, which called upon Member States for speedy implementation of recommendations on regional health issues, was adopted at the Fourth Meeting of SAARC Health Ministers. Matters of extreme importance to peace and security in the region, including growing threats of terrorism and organized crime and emerging issue of Cybercrime were discussed at the Fifth Meeting of SAARC Interior/Home Ministers. A proposal was made by the Maldives to establish a SAARC Immigration Liaison Network, at the Fifth Meeting of SAARC Immigration Authorities. In addition, SAARC Foreign Ministers met in New York at the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly, to bring each other up to date on issues currently under deliberation in SAARC.
Furthermore, an important technical meeting was recently held in Maldives to discuss feasibility of the Indian Ocean Cargo and Ferry Network. A network if successfully established in an economically feasible and profitable manner, which could increase connectivity of the South Asian region, to tremendously benefit the process of economic integration and hence the overall development of the region.
While it’s important that we celebrate SAARC’s achievements in bringing together the region of South Asia and achieving considerable progress in areas of economic, social, technical and scientific fields, it is equally important for us to recognize and address the numerous challenges faced by SAARC. With this in mind, we must endeavor to make this Organization more dynamic, forward looking. We should be ready to undertake emerging modern day challenges and take advantage of global developments. Hence, I believe it is a time for us to aspire for more and help SAARC to perform to its maximum potential. We should attempt to modernize functioning of SAARC and its mechanisms. We should aspire to make our decision making process more business-like and our delivery more result oriented and deliver tangible benefits to the people. We must ensure that our decisions and recommendations are followed through till results are achieved. We should emulate global good practices and be more innovative in our approach and resolution of regional issues.
While the relevance of SAARC and its potential in the global economic development process keeps increasing, SAARC as an organisation needs to redefine its engagement with Observers, to maximise benefit towards development priorities of the region. I hope for positive and productive decisions on this to be taken at the Special Session of the Standing Committee that Maldives will host during the next Inter-Summit Meetings, to pave way for meaningful relationships with SAARC’s Observers for the progress of our region.
As we commemorate this important occasion, I would like to reaffirm Maldives’ commitment to SAARCs principles and its values of friendship, cooperation and unity in diversity. It is my sincere hope that we will put aside our differences and work together to realize our common goal of a better and more prosperous future for the people of South Asia.
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