Pakistan business delegation to attend SAARC SDF conclave in India

A Pakistani business delegation under the aegis of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry will attend the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Partnership Conclave 2018 in New Delhi, according to reports on Thursday.

The Pakistan delegation will leave for India on June 30 to participate in the three-day conclave to be held in New Delhi from July 1.

The conclave is aimed at strategic growth in the South Asia region through project collaboration and regional integration, the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency in Islamabad reported.

It proposes to solicit cross-border project co-financing under the social, economic and infrastructure windows of SDF in SAARC member states, said SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik, speaking to a delegation of traders from Islamabad.

Malik said that SDF is currently implementing 12 regional projects with more than 70 implementing and lead implementing agencies covering all the eight Member States under the Social Window funding. 

“We have already committed USD 73.74 million for social window projects as of date out of which it has disbursed USD 47 million to the Member States for Social Window projects. 

The visit of the Pakistani business delegation will take place amidst a chill in bilateral ties. 

Ties between India and Pakistan touched rock-bottom after a series of terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 in Jammu and Kashmir. India retaliated with surgical strikes across the border. India also boycotted the SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in 2016.

The Thimphu-based SDF was established by the heads of the eight SAARC Member States—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka—in April 2010 to promote peoples’ welfare in the region, improve their quality of life, and accelerate economic growth, social progress and poverty alleviation.

(With PTI inputs)