SAARC Fund to combat poverty and hunger:Bansal

Wagah, July 13 (UNI) Union Minister of state for Finance, Pawan Kumar Bansal today said the 'SAARC Development Fund' will go a long way in fighting hunger and poverty and bringing about a change in the economic scenario in the South Asia region.

The decision to set-up this Fund was taken at the meeting of the SAARC Finance Ministers that concluded at Islamabad on Tuesday.

''The primary aim of this Fund will be to combat poverty, ensure all round development and to bring about an improvement in the economy of South Asia,'' Mr Bansal said while talking to mediapersons here on his return home from Islamabad.

Intially this Fund will be set-up with an investment of 300 million dollars, in which India's contribution would be a 100 million dollars.

While describing the Islamabad meeting as a success, Mr Bansal said that the SAARC ministers discussed in detail the ''structural aspects'' of this Fund. A seprate headquarter for management of the Fund would be established in any of the SAARC countries which would function in close coordination with the Asian Development Bank, he added.

Mr Bansal said that the Finance Ministers meeting agreed to have one coordinator from each member nation on the Development Fund board. These coordinators will work in close cooperation with each other to give a final shape to the Fund, he added.

''The establihsment of the Development Fund will be a step towards the formation of a SAARC Economic Union,'' he said while pointing to the European Economic Union.

Refering to South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), Mr Bansal said that intially Pakistan has some reservations, as it was felt that India would benefit from this Agreement at the cost of Pakistan. However a report 'Implications of Liberalisation of Trade and Investment with India' prepared by the State Bank of Pakistan helped in removing a number of doubts from the minds of the Pakistanis at the Islamabad meeting, he added.

''The report clearly mentions that both India and Pakistan will benefit if the volume of trade between the two nighbours is increased,'' he added. The Minister disclosed that to give an impetus to Indo-Pak trade, the State Bank of India and Bank of India will set-up branches across the border, while Pakistan's Habib Bank has agreed to set-up their branch here.

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