LAHORE: A high level delegation of Pakistan under the
leadership of SAARC CCI Senior Vice President (SVP) Iftikhar Ali Malik will
leave for India on June 30 to participate in three days SAARC Development
Fund (SDF) Partnership Conclave 2018 commencing from July 01 aimed at
strategic growth in the South Asia region through project collaboration and
regional integration.
Talking to a traders delegation from Islamabad jointly led by Zubair Ahmad
Malik and Malik Sohail Hussain here Thursday , he said the conclave
proposes to solicit cross-border project co-financing under the “social,
economic and infrastructure windows of SDF” in SAARC member states. “The
thematic concepts 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 added.
He further said SDF has also invited bankable project as it is exploring
the possibility of forming a consortium of funding agencies for
co-financing of projects in the SAARC countries. Shedding light on the aims
of SDF, he said the main purpose of establishing SDF is to promote the
welfare of the people of SAARC region, improve their quality of life and
accelerate economic growth, social progress and poverty alleviation in the
region. “SDF serves as the umbrella financial institution for SAARC
projects and programs which are in fulfillment of the objectives of the
SAARC Charter. SDF promotes Regional Integration and Economic Cooperation
in the region and has three funding windows viz. Social, Economic and
Infrastructure,” he added.