SAARC Finance Ministers hold 16th informal meeting

The 16th Informal Meeting of the SAARC Finance Ministers was held on 5 May from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Manila Time) virtually, on the sidelines of 54th Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB), also being held virtually on 3-5 May 2021. The meeting, attended by the Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegations from all the SAARC member states, was held under the Chairmanship of the Finance Minister of Nepal Bishnu Prasad Paudel. 

In his opening statement, the Chairman thanked ADB for its continuous support to SAARC. He also commended the excellent arrangements made by the SAARC Secretariat and ADB for the virtual meeting for the second time. Indicating the huge challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he stated that solidarity and collective efforts should be the priority to fight the pandemic and its negative impacts on important areas of the economy. 

SAARC Secretary General Esala R. Weerakoon made a statement in the context of the meeting’s theme ‘Economic Recovery from COVID-19: Towards Inclusive and Resilient Growth’ and highlighted the adverse impacts of the pandemic on the economies of the member states of SAARC and the need for measures, including universalisation of vaccination to deal and address them. He also underlined the importance of collective action at this time of crisis, pointed out immediate and swift responses taken by the members to address the adverse impacts of the pandemic, and especially the SAARC leader’s agreement to the proposal of the Prime Minister of India to create a SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund, to which all the countries have pledged their voluntary contributions. He mentioned that interventions, such as more investments in the healthcare and education sectors, and more collaborative and innovative projects with development partners like the World Bank, ADB are to be continued at this challenging time.  

ADB Vice President – Operations Shixin Chen briefed the meeting about the initiatives and financial commitments already made by ADB for the region along with the status of collaboration between ADB and SAARC. He reaffirmed ADB’s commitment to continue collaboration with SAARC for economic development and prosperity of the peoples in the region, especially in view of the COVID-19 and its negative impacts.  

The Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegation briefed the meeting about the measures taken to fight and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic along with current status of economic progress achieved by them, while appreciating the contribution made by ADB in their economic growth and hoped that SAARC would make further progress to achieve its full potential for the benefit of peoples of the region.

ADB Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department Chief Economist/Director General –Yasuyuki Sawada made a presentation regarding the theme of the meeting. The presentation highlighted the present situation of the pandemic, its possible impacts on economies along with challenges and measures needed for sustainable, green growth in the region.