General Knowledge of SAARC

SAARC Stands for Souch Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.



Establised:                         8 December 1985

Official Language:          English

Membership:                  8 member (9 Observers)

Leaders:

Secretary General:        Arjun Bahadur Thapa

Bangladesh:                       MJH Jabed

Bhutan:                              Singye Dorjee

India:                                  L Savithri

Maldives:                           Fathimath Najwa

Nepal:                                Hrpal Sing Nepali

Pakistan:                            Ahmar Ismail

Sri Lanka:                          Prasanna Gamage

GDP (PPP):                       April 2015 estimate

Total:                                 US$9.9 trillion

Website:                             www.saarc-sec.or



Aim

To promote the welfare of the peoples of SOUTH ASIA.

To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.

To cooperate with international and regional organisations.

To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries.



Headquarter

The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 and was inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal.



Members

Total 8 members

Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, are its founder members and Bangladesh. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2007








The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical organisation of eight countries that are primarily located in South Asia or Indian subcontinent.

The SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The combined economy of SAARC is the 3rd largest in the world in the terms of GDP(PPP) after the United States and China and 5th largest in the terms of nominal GDP. SAARC nations comprise 3% of the world's area and contain 21% (around 1.7 billion) of the world's total population and around 9.12% of Global economy as of 2015. SAARC also home to world's 3rd & 7th largest Economy of world in GPP(PPP) & GDP(Nominal) terms respectively as well as World's fastest growing major Economy,that is India. India makes up over 70% of the area and population among these eight nations. All non-Indian member states except Afghanistan share borders with India but only two other members, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have a border with each other. During 2005-10, the average GDP growth rate of SAARC stood at an impressive 8.8% p.a., but it slowed to 6.5% in 2011 largely because of economic slowdown in India, which accounts for nearly 80% of SAARC's economy. But driven by a strong expansion in India, coupled with favorable oil prices,from the last quarter of 2014 South Asia once again become the fastest-growing region in the world.





  Member states

Observer states
The idea of regional political and economical cooperation in South Asia was first raised in 2 May 1980 by Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman and the first summit was held in Dhaka on 8 December 1985, when the organisation was established by the governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Since then the organisation has expanded by accepting one new full member, Afghanistan, and several observer members.

The SAARC policies aim to promote welfare economics, collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia, and to accelerate socio-cultural development in the region. The SAARC has developed external relations by establishing permanent diplomatic relations with the EU, the UN (as an observer), and other multilateral entities. The official meetings of the leaders of each nation are held annually whilst the foreign ministers meet twice annually. The 18th SAARC Summit was held in Kathmandu from 26–27 November 2014.