ISLAMABAD – A business delegation under the leadership of SAARC Chamber ofCommerce and Industry, Senior Vice President (SVP) Iftikhar Ali Malik willleave for India on June 30 to participate in South Asian Association ofRegional Countries (SAARC) Development Fund (SDF) Partnership Conclave 2018.
The three-day Conclave to be commenced from July 1 is aimed at strategicgrowth in the South Asia region through project collaboration and regionalintegration.
Talking to a traders delegation from Islamabad jointly led by Zubair AhmadMalik and Malik Sohail Hussain here Thursday, Iftikhar Ali Malik said theconclave proposes to solicit cross-border project co-financing under the“social, economic and infrastructure windows of SDF” in SAARC memberstates.”
A press release issued here today quoted him as saying, “The thematicconcepts to be discussed during the conclave for funding would be energy,transportation, ICT, trade and commerce, agriculture and allied sectors,and poverty alleviation, among others”.
He further said SDF has also invited bankable project as it is exploringthe possibility of forming a consortium of funding agencies forco-financing of projects in the SAARC countries. Shedding light on the aimsof SDF, he said the main purpose of establishing SDF is to promote thewelfare of the people of SAARC region, improve their quality of life andaccelerate economic growth, social progress and poverty alleviation in theregion.
“SDF serves as the umbrella financial institution for SAARC projects andprogrammes which are in fulfillment of the objectives of the SAARC Charter.SDF promotes Regional Integration and Economic Cooperation in the regionand has three funding windows viz Social, Economic and Infrastructure,” headded.
Iftikhar Malik said that SDF is currently implementing 12 regional projectswith more than 70 implementing and lead implementing agencies covering allthe eight Member States under the Social Window funding. “We have alreadycommitted USD 73.74 million for social window projects as of date out ofwhich it has disbursed USD 47 million to the Member States for SocialWindow projects.
Recently “we have in-principle approved two energy infrastructure projectsin the region with a loan commitment of USD 30 million under ourInfrastructure Window. Other potential regional connectivity projects areunder our active consideration to co-finance in SAARC Member states,” headded.
Highlighting upcoming project of SDF, he said soon Social EnterpriseDevelopment Programme (SEDP) as part of its Social Window will be launchedand it will be implemented in all the SAARC Member States with theobjective of identifying and building social enterprises by using a mix ofgrants and concessional returnable capital.
The programme intends to fund around 80 enterprises across the 8 SAARCMember States annually. SDF also proposes to launch its MSME programme inorder to upgrade Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in the SAARC region byproviding line of credit. SDF would create access to financial serviceswhich can in-turn boost job creation, raise income, reduce vulnerabilityand increase investments in human capital in SAARC Member states.