Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, April 13:

Asian Development Bank (ADB) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation between the two institutions. Liqun Jin, ADB vice-president (operations) and SAARC secretary-general Q A M A Rahim signed the memorandum at ADB headquarters in Manila yesterday. It will help to promote mutually interested regional programmes-projects and help establish linkages with other regional initiatives, states a press release issued here today.

SAARC is the regional block of seven South Asian countries and was established in 1985 by the heads of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region collectively. The 12th SAARC Summit held in Islamabad in January this year adopted the Islamabad Declaration that paved the way for accelerated regional cooperation. In line with the memorandum, ADB plans to provide regional technical assistance in helping the SAARC Secretariat identify priority cooperation areas .