The Federal Finance Minister, Senator Ishaq Dar, invited his counterparts in South Asian countries to attend the meeting of 8th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to be held in Islamabad on August 26.
The letters have been sent to the finance ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, according to official sources.
In his letters, the minister has claimed that since the last finance minister-level SAARC meeting that held in Kathmandu last year in August, substantial growth has been made in the sectors of finance and investment across the region.
However, Dar maintained that certain areas linked with SAARC Development Fund (SDF) needed more deliberations and improved follow-up actions.
The minister was hopeful that the participation of member countries would surely help in achieving the objectives of SAARC.
The Pakistan-hosted 19th SAARC summit would be held later this year. The adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had formally extended an invitation to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The finance ministers’ meeting would precede it and is expected to lay the groundwork for progress on regional cooperation programme in the areas of finance and investment to be later endorsed by the heads of member states at the main summit
