The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

Résumé du document

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) comprises of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SAARC came into existence in December 1985. SAARC is a classic international organization, as long as it works on the basis of unanimity and consensus . Areas of cooperation are numerous and it is this cooperation that is reflected in the concerns of the subcontinents. The areas can be classified into four realms. The classification is as follows
a. Infrastructures (transport, energy, tourism)
b. Education and social matters (health and population activities, women, youth and children, human resource development)
c. Science (science, technology and meteorology, information and communications technology, biotechnology, property rights) and
d. Environment (agriculture and rural development, environment and forestry).
This brief overview on SAARC deals first with its purposes and thereafter lays emphasis on the actual achievements of the organization.

Extraits

[...] The Bangladesh working paper on regional cooperation of 25/11/2006 proposed four names, which were: South Asian Association for Cooperation; Association of South Asia; Association of South Asia for Cooperation; and Organisation of South Asian States. This paper is available in Muni, Regional Cooperation in South Asia, National Publishing House, New Delhi (Grimaud 1998: 88-91). As it as been seen, they focus on infrastructures, education and social matters, science and environment. 19% of the labour force is engaged in fisheries, but it accounts for of the GDP, whereas tourism account for 33% of the country's GDP (SAARC 2004: 109). [...]

[...] Ministerial consultations between Commerce Ministers are held before WTO Ministerial Conferences. Thus, in November 2004 in Islamabad, they agreed to meet before the WTO Hong Kong Conference of December 2005, in order to present a common position on international trade issues (SAARC 2004: 32-33). In January 2004, an agreement on SAFTA has been signed in Islamabad and entered into force last 1st January 2006. It is said to be a moving step toward the establishment of a South Asian Economic Union (SAEU). [...]

[...] L'Inde, nouvelle terre d'accueil de la high-tech, Métro, 21/03/2006 The agreement is in annexe. Cf. table 1 again. With again special attention given to SAARC least developed members. The study on Trade, Manufactures and Services, which led to the creation of the Committee on Economic Cooperation which in turn launched all the new economic agreements. [...]

[...] The Maldives, an archipelago of nearly 270.000 inhabitants, living from tourism[7], depends also heavily on India for its security. Last but not least, Bhutan is said to have less freedom of action than states under American influence like Panama (Cohen 2001: 232-233)[8]. B. Economic matters As regards to the economic side of SAARC, the hegemonic stability theory (Mahant 1994: 187-188) could be applied. For what works in the purely political realm is all the more relevant to describe the economic situation. [...]

[...] At this level, it is clear that SAARC has not reached the European Union in terms of law production. However, reticence towards any kind of regional cooperation were so high that one can dare to pass a broadly positive judgment on SAARC job, as little as it could be. ANNEXE Figure SAARC structure Adapted and completed from Grimaud 1998: 181 Table Tariff Concessions within SAARC From SAARC publications: Regional Economic Cooperation, www.saarc-sec.org/printable.php?id=43 SOURCES Edelgard Mahant Regional Economic Cooperation Bringing Values Back In, in Globalization and the Political Economy of Trade Policy, Paraskevopoulos et al., APF Press Edelgard Mahant and Xavier de Vanssay The origins of Customs Unions and Free Trade Areas, Revue d'intégration européenne, vol. [...]