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Hectic preparations on for Saarc summit

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
The government has stepped up all-out preparations for the November 12-13 summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), as officials of the ministries concerned have been working round the clock, even in the holidays.
The foreign ministry, which has earlier cancelled all government holidays including the weekly ones for the officials and employees engaged in the summit preparation, worked on Friday and Saturday last.
To ensure foolproof security for
the 13th summit, senior officials of the home ministry and all intelligence agencies are holding regular meetings and surveying the security measures for all the venues to be visited by the heads of the state and government.
Highly placed sources said the government will deploy some 20,000 security personnel for ensuring security of the Dhaka meet, which was postponed twice earlier this year.
Over 600 officials and journalists are expected to be in Dhaka for the meet. A well-equipped media centre will be set up in Hotel Sonargaon during the summit. The foreign ministry will set up a Saarc Facilitation Desk at the Zia International Airport for the delegates.
Strict security measures will be taken in respect of all baggage of the guests.
The beautification and other preparations were geared up since Pakistan confirmed that it would take part in the summit despite the devastating earthquake that killed thousands of people in the country, officials said.
They said the 13th summit has special significance for Bangladesh on three counts --it coincides with the 20th anniversary of Saarc, it is being held on the eve of the third decade of the organisation, and Bangladesh is the first country to host the meet for the third time.
Saarc represents the largest regional cooperation organisation of the world as South Asia is home to one-fifth of the world population. South Asian nations are endowed with immense geographical advantages, considerable natural and human resources and a large economic space with a vibrant market of some 400 million middle-class consumers.
Officials said the region needs to make great strides in the areas of poverty alleviation, intra-regional trade, attracting Foreign Direct Investment, expanding communication and transport network, adopting an energy policy, increasing investment in human resources development, ensuring quality education, better management of natural disasters, stabilising population growth and eradicating illiteracy.
The implementation of South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) is still uncertain, as the meeting of the Saarc Committee of Experts (CoE) held in Kathmandu on October 18-19 ended inconclusively, while the scheduled October 21-22 meet of the Saarc commerce ministers in Islamabad was postponed due to the earthquake.
Safta is due to be implemented from January next year.
The 13th summit will usher in a new era of regional cooperation, to build a more peaceful, prosperous and forward-looking South Asia, the officials added.
According to the programme, the inaugural session will take place on November 12 at the Bangladesh-China
Friendship Conference Centre (BCFCC) at 11:30am.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will open the summit as current chairperson.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will give her inaugural speech. Then the Saarc leaders will adopt the agenda of the summit and confer Saarc Award 2004.
Late president Ziaur Rahman was the first winner of the Saarc Award for his outstanding contribution to the initiation of the regional co-operation in South Asia.
The election of the chairperson will also take place at the inaugural session when the current chairperson of Saarc will hand over the chair to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The secretary general will address after the speeches of the leaders.
The session will be preceded by a visit to the National Memorial at Savar and the mazar of late president Ziaur Rahman.
Khaleda Zia will host a state banquet in honour of the Saarc leaders at the BCFCC hall in the evening of the first day of the summit.
On the second day, the leaders will discuss reports of the Council of Ministers, reports of ministerial meetings on environment, information, health, energy and commerce at the State Guest House Jamuna before the summit.
The leaders will also discuss the Declaration of the 13th Saarc Summit, known as Dhaka Declaration. Then they will proceed to Bangabhaban where they will pay a joint call on President Iajuddin Ahmed.
Four agreements will be signed by the foreign ministers of the Saarc countries at the concluding session at the International Conference Centre.
The Saarc leaders will then approve the reports of the Council of Ministers, reports of the ministerial meetings and declare the date and venue of the 14th Summit.
The Saarc heads of the state and government will then adopt the declaration of the 13th summit. Khaleda Zia, the new chairperson of Saarc, will make the concluding speech.
She will also address at a press briefing as the new Saarc chairperson.