 | |
| Abbreviation | SDF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 28 April 2010 |
| Type | Multilateral Development Institution |
| Legal status | Treaty |
| Purpose | Social and Economic Development |
| Headquarters | Thimphu, Bhutan |
Region served | South Asia |
Membership | 8 countries |
Chief Drawing Officer | Sunil Motiwal |
Main organ | South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation |
| Website | www |
SAARC Development Fund (SDF) (also known as SAARC Development Fund Secretariat For Regional Integration) is a regional financial institution based in Thimphu, Bhutan.
SDF was founded in 2010 by the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), an intergovernmental organization comprising eight countries in South Asia, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. [1] It carries out and manages various projects and programs across three key areas: Social, Economic, and Infrastructure. [2] [3]
The SDF has its roots in two distinct regional funds known as the SAARC Fund for Regional Projects (SFRP) and the SAARC Regional Fund (SRF). These funds were proposed during the 5th SAARC Summit in Malé in November 1990, with the objective of identifying and executing regional projects that emerged from the SAARC process. These funds eventually became a part of the South Asian Development Fund (SADF), which Bhutan started during the sixth Summit in 1992. [4] [5]
SADF commenced operations on June 16-17, 1996, with an initial resource pool of approximately US$6.4 million. This amount included a contribution of US$5 million, which was earlier designated for the SFRP, contributed on a pro-rata basis by the member states. [6] specifically. Nevertheless, after determining that the existing mechanism was not satisfactory, the First Meeting of Financial Experts was held in September 2005 during the Thirteenth SAARC Summit in Dhaka. [7] Following the recommendations put forth by the Financial Experts, it was agreed to reformulate the South Asian Development Fund (SADF) into the SAARC Development Fund (SDF). [4] [5]
Afterward, the Framework for the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) was endorsed during the First Meeting of the SAARC Finance Ministers on July 11, 2006, held in Islamabad. They also agreed upon a roadmap for establishing the SDF. Subsequently, the SAARC leaders signed the Charter of the SAARC Development Fund on August 3, 2008, during the Fifteenth SAARC Summit held in Colombo from August 2-3, 2008. In line with this development, a permanent Secretariat for the SDF was inaugurated in Thimphu on April 28, 2010, coinciding with the Sixteenth SAARC Summit. [4] [8]
As of 2018, the SDF has an authorized capital of $1.5 billion and a total capital base of $500 million. The SDF is currently focused on expanding its credit portfolio to $300 million within the coming years. [9]
Thimphu is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was declared as the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Bhutan is a sovereign country at the crossroads of East Asia and South Asia, located towards the eastern extreme of the Himalayas mountain range. It is fairly evenly sandwiched between the sovereign territory of two nations: first, the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the north and northwest. There are approximately 477 kilometres of border with the country's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), or simply Tibet. The second nation is the Republic of India on the south, southwest, and east; there are approximately 659 kilometres with the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, and Sikkim, in clockwise order from the kingdom. Bhutan's total borders amount to approximately 1,139 kilometres. The Indian state of Sikkim to the west, the India to the south, and the Assam state of India to the southeast are other close neighbours; the former two are separated by only very small stretches of Indian territory.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck is a member of the House of Wangchuck who was the king of Bhutan from 1972 until his abdication in 2006.During his reign, he advocated the use of a Gross National Happiness index to measure the well-being of citizens rather than Gross domestic product.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of the world's land area, 21% of the world's population and 5.21% of the global economy, as of 2021.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts. Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of US$5.2 trillion (2023). The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
The SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) is a regional cooperation agency set up under the auspices of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) with the objectives of promoting cooperation and collaboration among institutions imparting knowledge through open and distance learning within member states, and promoting its use as a viable and cost-effective method of imparting quality education at all levels.
Banking in Bhutan, a small country in East Asia, is an industry that has grown slowly as the country has pursued modernization. The country has a vibrant informal culture of finance which only weakly integrates formal financial services.
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern states of South Asia include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. South Asia borders East Asia to the northeast, Central Asia to the northwest, West Asia to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir mountains in the north.
South Asian University (SAU) is an international university sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The eight countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The university started admitting students in 2010 at a temporary campus at Akbar Bhawan, India. Since February 2023, the University is running on its permanent campus at Maidan Garhi in South Delhi, India, next to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
Bhutan–Nepal relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Bhutan and Nepal. Relations were formally established in 1983. The two Himalayan countries are both landlocked, separated only by the Indian State of Sikkim. Both countries are bordered by India and the People's Republic of China. However, the current state of relations remains strained owing to the Bhutanese refugee crisis.
There are a number of environmental issues in Bhutan. Among Bhutan's most pressing issues are traditional firewood collection, crop and flock protection, and waste disposal, as well as modern concerns such as industrial pollution, wildlife conservation, and climate change that threaten Bhutan's population and biodiversity. Land and water use have also become matters of environmental concern in both rural and urban settings. In addition to these general issues, others such as landfill availability and air and noise pollution are particularly prevalent in relatively urbanized and industrialized areas of Bhutan. In many cases, the least financially and politically empowered find themselves the most affected by environmental issues.
Energy in Bhutan has been a primary focus of development in the kingdom under its Five-Year Plans. In cooperation with India, Bhutan has undertaken several hydroelectric projects whose output is traded between the countries. Though Bhutan's many hydroelectric plants provide energy far in excess of its needs in the summer, dry winters and increased fuel demand makes the kingdom a marginal net importer of energy from India.
Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is head of a SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. SAARC is an economic and geopolitical union between the eight South Asian member nations, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Secretary-General is appointed for a three-year term by election by a council of Ministers from member states. Secretary-General is assisted by eight deputies, one from each nation, who also reside in Kathmandu. SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 by Bangladeshi diplomat Abul Ahsan, who was its first Secretary-General, and was inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Since its creation, its member nations have contributed to a total of fourteenth General Secretaries. Golam Sarwar from Bangladesh is the current Secretary-General of SAARC, having assumed charge on 4th March 2023.
The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, set up in 2001, brings together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade among member countries, and strengthening regional economic cooperation. As of June 2020, SASEC countries have implemented 61 regional projects worth over $13 billion in the energy, transport, trade facilitation, economic corridor development, and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors. The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) serves as the Secretariat for the SASEC member countries.
Declaration of 18th SAARC Summit was made during SAARC Summit 2014 in Nepal.The 18th SAARC summit was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 26 to 27 November 2014. The state heads of eight SAARC member countries along with their delegations had meeting during the Summit and discussed the agendas of SAARC. The discussions on previous implementations was made by the delegations before the summit. They Recognized that after nearly thirty years of their existence, it was time to reinvigorate SAARC's regional cooperation and revitalize SAARC as an effective vehicle to fulfill the developmental aspirations of the peoples of South Asia; Determined to deepen regional integration for peace and prosperity by promoting mutual trust, amity, understanding, cooperation and partnership;the 18th SAARC summit Declaration was made.
The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative is a subregional architecture of countries in Eastern South Asia, a subregion of South Asia. It meets through official representation of member states to formulate, implement and review quadrilateral agreements across areas such as water resources management, connectivity of power, transport, and infrastructure.
SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recognized as a regional apex trade body by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is a constellation of the eight national Federation Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the member states of SAARC. The rationale behind the creation of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the SAARC countries was to promote trade and industry in the region and to develop and achieve common objectives in the areas of trade and industry, moreover, the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also accepted as the voice of the private sector across the region.
Countries and territories in South Asia have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first South Asian country to report a confirmed case was Nepal, which documented its first case on 23 January 2020, in a man who had returned from Wuhan on 9 January. As of 2 July, at least one case of COVID-19 has been reported in every country in South Asia. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Maldives have implemented lockdowns, Sri Lanka has responded with quarantine curfews while India and Nepal have declared a country-wide lockdown. Countries have also instituted various levels of restrictions on international travel, some countries have completely sealed off their land borders and grounded most international flights.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)