By Asaduzzaman
With the theme, “Reimagining South Asia in 2030’’, the two day summit was inaugurated by the President of Bangladesh, M Abdul Hamid, on 15th October. The summit ended with a clarion call by the Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament and Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, MP on 16th October. In her speech, she suggested wiping out roadblocks for a better tomorrow for South Asia, the region which now contains one-fourth of the global population. She also emphasized on providing a thrust towards the greater integration of policies to reduce inequality, pacify economic migration while creating more intense dialogue among the governments, civil societies, and think tanks. This will allow them to change the destiny of one-third of the poorest of the poor of the global population through fighting terrorism, militancy, and violence. Connectivity and economic union, market access and augmenting the threshold of opportunities were also among the topics she addressed.
The South Asia Economic Summit (SAES) was conceived as a platform to discuss and debate on the issues perceived as critical to advancing the causes of deepening regional cooperation and integration in South Asia. Five leading think tanks of the subcontinent took the initiative in 2008 to organize the SAES. There were: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh; Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS); Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India; Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan; and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics, and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal. It is hoped that initiatives such as the SAES will help to promote regional cooperation and integration and re-visualize a prosperous, sustainable and equitable South Asia in 2030. Around 100 delegates from Bangladesh and 70 delegates from other SAARC countries participated in this year’s summit. The tenth SAES will be held in Nepal in mid of 2017.
The two-day session focused on discussing the political leadership in South Asia, the sustainable transformation of the South Asian economy by 2030 and its possible pathways, SDG Implementation challenges in the region and the role of Global partnerships, change agents for an inclusive, just and peaceful society in South Asia, etc. The nine parallel sessions were Achieving Sustainable Energy For All in South Asia: Modalities of Cooperation; Promoting South Asian Identity; Financing Development in South Asia: Avenues and Institutional Arrangements; Addressing the climate change in South Asia: Cross Broader Initiatives; Reducing Inequality in South Asia: Critical issues and Policy Choices; Fostering Connectivity and Economic integration in South Asia: Role of Private Sector; Promoting sustainable industrialization: Opportunities for Job creation and income generation; Building accountable and inclusive institutions in South Asia; Deepening an Inclusive South Asian Integration through Gender – Sensitive Trade Policies, etc.
The moot question was the existence of SARRC and intra-regional and sub-regional cooperation and the SARC monetary union date line by 2020, which was envisioned by professor Rehman Sobhan in 1999. The speakers and participants included names like Professor Rehman Sobhan, Founding Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Bangladesh; Professor Abdul Wasay Haqiqi, Chief Executive Officer, Silk Road Innovation Group; Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Member of Bangladesh Parliament; Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Special Assignments, Government of Srilanka; Choda Gupta, Member of National Assembly of Bhutan; Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, Member National Assembly of Pakistan; Romi Gauchan Thakail, Minister of Commerce, Government of Nepal; Emeritus Professor Deepak Nayyar, Chair South Asian Centre for Studies (SACEPS), India; Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Adviser, International Affairs to the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan; Nick Beresford, Country Director, UPDP Bangladesh; Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India; Dr. Selim Jahan, Director Human Development Report Office, UNDP New Work; Dr. Christian Wagner, Senior Fellow, Asia Region, German institute For International and Security Affairs and many more. The policy makers across the South Asian region expressed their anxiety while sharing their pertinent views for ushering in a brighter tomorrow through positive initiatives. The speakers suggested turning conflicts into consciousness and utilizing the five Ps – People, Peace, Production, Productivity and Prosperity. The morning session of the first day of the summit exhibited the launching of a book written by late Dr. Mohammed Rahmatullah, a transport expert and senior fellow at CPD.
Chairing the concluding session, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said that the important component should be achieving inclusive growth that encompasses poverty eradication and shared opportunities where market integration and labor force mobility play important roles. She also stressed upon people-centric development for which we must assess the strengths and weaknesses of our vision, mission and endeavor at first to bring about the integration in the region.
Professor Rehman Sobhan is one of the thought leaders who envisioned a SAARC market union two decades ago. He put forward the need for equality and greater market intervention which would lead to improved opportunities of all, and ultimately a just society which is a prerequisite for the future development of the region. His detailing included the structural dimension on injustice and policy intervention to promote inclusive growth. He also emphasized on issues like expanding the ownership and control of the poor over productive assets, strengthening the capacity of the poor, democratizing their access to a knowledge-based society, ensuring quality health care for all, redesigning budgetary policy to reach public resources to the poor, restructuring monetary policy to deliver credit and to provide savings instruments to the poor, and empowering the excluded.
Dr. Selim Jahan, Director Human Development Report Office, UNDP New York said that the virtual community was expanding while the human community was shrinking. To combat this matter, he suggested, “Under such circumstances, we have to make a peaceful society, holistically.”
Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi highlighted the necessity of regional development, as he believes that countries must flourish together. “Our leaders have to understand these dynamics; without injecting this idea among political leaders, no progress can be attained overnight.”
Dr. Kamal Hossain cites mindset as one of the major issue; while some countries were still harboring the colonial mindset, some were stuck in 1971. He praised Sri Lanka for coming out from the shadows of their bloody past and urged others to follow in their footsteps.
Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, a lawmaker from Pakistan, mentioned that there was the tremendous development of women in Pakistan in recent times; women occupy 30% seats in the Pakistan National Assembly. He elaborated, “But the tragedy is that we have to spend 2 billion in combating terrorism and at least 60,000 people have died due to terrorist activities in the last couple of years; nevertheless, we are coming out of it. SAARC might be postponed for now, but for the future, we have to work hard.”
Nazir Kabiri, a financial expert from Afghanistan said that the prospect of Afghanistan might seem bleak today but this would change in the future because of greater participation from women in various development sectors of the country. Mentioning his country as a bridge between East Asia and South East Asia, he expressed optimism regarding further economic development since both the regions are on a growth track.