SAARC member states agree on development report

KATHMANDU: Member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation have reached agreement on a regional development report.

The consensus was achieved during the second meeting of the Intergovernmental Expert Group on Poverty Alleviation held in Male, the capital of Maldives, on Thursday, according to the SAARC Secretariat.

Minister of State for Finance and Public Enterprises of Maldives, Hussain Imran Abdulla Muizzu, inaugurated the meeting, emphasizing the need to expand regional cooperation and promote economic growth.

Director (Information and Poverty Alleviation) at the SAARC Secretariat, Prathama Uprety, thanked the Government of Maldives for hosting the meeting and expressed appreciation to the Asian Development Bank for its continued support in promoting regional cooperation.

According to the SAARC Secretariat, the meeting was chaired by Deputy Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises of Maldives, Ali Rasheed, and attended by senior officials from development-related ministries and agencies of member states, as well as representatives from foreign ministries.