ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan Wednesday hosted the inaugural meeting of SAARC Planning Ministers on the theme “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in South Asia: Shaping SARRC Vision 2030”
The meeting in virtual mode was chaired by Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives (PD&SI) Asad Umar.
All member states and the SAARC Secretary General, Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, participated in the meeting.
The meeting discussed national SDGs approaches, impact of Covid-19 on economic growth in the South Asian region, and a strategy for collective action for development financing in the wake of pandemic.
In the opening remarks of the meeting, the minister for planning briefed the member states about Pakistan’s national SDGs policy.
He noted that political ownership for SDGs was manifested at the highest level as Pakistan was one of the 1st countries to adopt SDGs as National Development Agenda through a unanimous parliamentary resolution.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s success in devising a coordinated approach taken by the Government of Pakistan towards its social protection and environment conservation initiatives such as the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami.
He expressed hope that the meeting would shape SAARC countries’ response for mitigating the adverse impacts of Covid-19 on the most vulnerable groups of SAARC societies and efforts to accelerate the successful implementation of SDGs targets within the region.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020