he SAARC Development Fund (SDF) is in advanced-level talks with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for co-financing four cross-border infrastructure projects across the region, a move set to lay the ground for the body becoming a regional development bank in the near future.

In its recent push to engage major international lenders, the SDF has tapped infra financing major AIIB for projects on renewable energy, urban development, climate change, and intra-regional trade, SDF Chief Executive Officer Sunil Motiwal told Business Standard on the sidelines of the SDF …

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Economic growth won’t come to SA from America or Europe; it needs political will, determination of SAARC countries: Kant

Lack of intra-regional trade has “severely hampered” the economic development of South Asia, opined NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant stating that economic growth will not come to South Asia from America or Europe and it will need political will and determination of SAARC countries, which will enable growth to take place and also eliminate poverty.

Addressing the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Partnership Conclave 2018 here today, Kant stressed on the need for a greater push to investments, travel and tourism in the region.

“Politicians may say anything and politics of the region may do anything but South Asia as a region has been severely hampered and it will remain backward till we don’t integrate and till we don’t push for greater trade, greater investments and greater travel and tourism within the region,” he said.

Stating that SAARC countries have not been able to work together in the region, Kant said “we have nobody to blame but ourselves”.

“Within the SAARC region, we have ensured that we don’t do trade with each other, within the SAARC region we have ensured that we don’t allow tourists to come to other country…,” he asserted.

The NITI Aayog CEO stressed that SAARC countries should allow greater trade and investment to take place within the region.

On intra-regional tourism, Kant said, “If you look at America and Europe, it (trade, travel and tourism) is intra-regional. But if you look at South Asia, it is least integrated region in the world.”

He added, “If you look at intra-regional trade, there is virtually no trade taking place in the SAARC region. There is no intra-regional travel and tourism therefore multiplier impact of trade within the region has not benefited the SAARC countries.”

“Why Indian tourists are going to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Why they can’t travel to Bhutan, Pakistan, or Afghanistan,” he underlined.

He also stressed on the need to provide more job opportunities to women in South Asian region, saying women contribute only 25 per cent to GDP in these parts and in case of rest of the world, women contribute 48 per cent to GDP.

Readmore; http://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/global/economic-growth-wont-come-to-sa-from-america-or-europe-it-needs-political-will-determination-of-saarc-countries-kant

The region is the ‘least integrated region in the world’

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that it goes to the credit of the SDF to have completed six projects, with six more in the pipeline in the SAARC countries amidst a host of complex issues.

A strong political will can lead to economic growth and poverty elimination in the SAARC region where the intra-trade, travel and tourism should be integrated, an effort being pursued by the SAARC Development Fund through a score of economic, infrastructure and social projects in diverse fields, said NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, addressing the strategic SDF Partnership Conclave in Delhi earlier this week.

In his inaugural address at the two-day conclave, being held to identify and raise finance for bankable economic, infrastructure and social projects, Kant said, that it goes to the credit of the SDF to have completed six projects, with six more in the pipeline in the SAARC countries amidst a host of complex issues.

“It will be the political will, the determination and the bonding together of the SAARC countries which would enable the growth, eliminate poverty to take place. This is critical, this is important…. I think it is important that we take cross country projects”.

Doing cross country projects is very difficult and complex job but it goes to the credit of SDF which is working on a dozen of projects in the region, he said.

Readmore: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/niti-aayog-ceo-kant-south-asias-economic-development-hampered-need-saarc-cooperation/articleshow/64825007.cms

WB, other top institutions meet under SAARC Development Fund tomorrow for projects in member states.

The SAARC Development Fund (SDF), which has just given in-principle approval for two infrastructure projects with a cumulative funding of USD 30 million, would be engaging with top multilateral institutions here on July2-3 to strengthen its financial resources for more such key infrastructure, economic and social projects in Member States.
The top institution that will be participating in the meeting include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank(ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).

SAARC Member States commitment to development of the SAARC region is clearly visible by participation of its top officials at the Partnership Conclave which would be inaugurated by NITI Aayog CEO Mr Amitabh Kant for soliciting the maximum of support from the multilateral funding organizations for the region. “Considering a huge funding requirement of the region; it is important for us to raise finances through different mechanisms for lending to projects which are vital for building infrastructure and poverty alleviation through faster economic development in the SAARC region,” said SDF Chief Executive Officer Dr Sunil Motiwal.

SDF is currently implementing 12 regional projects with more than 70 implementing and lead implementing agencies covering all the eight Member States under the Social Window funding. He said SDF has already committed USD 73.74 million for social window projects as of date of which USD 46.26 million has already been disbursed to the Member States. Recently it has in-principle approved two energy infrastructure projects in the region with a loan commitment of USD 30 million under its Infrastructure Window, Motiwal said.

Other potential regional connectivity projects are under active consideration of the SDF to co-finance in SAARC Member States, he said. SDF has already signed MoUs with Asian Development Bank, World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), South Asian University, SAARC Arbitration Council and SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry.All these MoUs capture the broad framework of collaboration and partnership for development of the region. The SDF, established by eight SAARC Member States in April,2010, is the umbrella financial institution of SAARC projects and programs. SDF also works closely with most of the Multilateral Development Banks and International Financial Institutions within and outside the region.

The Saarc Development Fund (SDF) plans to augment its funding capacity with the help of other multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB). The increased financial resources can be utilised for development of key infrastructure, economic and social projects in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) member states including India, the SDF said in a statement.

Recently, the SDF gave in-principle approval for funding of two infrastructure projects with a cumulative funding of USD 30 million in India. As part of strategy to enhance its funding capacity, the SDF would be engaging with other multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and ADB, here on July 2-3, it said.

Saarc member states’ commitment to the development of the region is clearly visible by participation of its top officials at the Partnership Conclave which would be inaugurated by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant for soliciting the maximum of support from multilateral funding organisations for the region, it said.

The SDF is currently implementing 12 regional projects with more than 70 implementing and lead implementing agencies covering all the eight Member States under the Social Window funding.

The SDF was established by the Heads of the eight SAARC member states in April 2010 and its Governing Council comprises finance ministers of these eight countries. DP MR MR

https://m.timesofindia.com/business/india-business/saarc-development-fund-plans-to-shore-up-its-funding-capacity/articleshow/64814797.cms

Thimpu-based SAARC Development Fund (SDF) is in the process of developing an e-commerce platform for enabling seamless trade of goods and services across member states even as it would fund ‘start-ups’ , said its CEO Sunil Motiwal.

Established in 2010 by heads of eight SAARC member states, the Thimpu-based SDF has so far completed financial closure of USD 73.75 million of which USD 47 million have already been disbursed.

SDF recently organised a two-day SAARC Development Fund Partnership Conclave.

Motiwal said that the initiatives like e-commerce platform along with funding the ‘start-ups’ found an instant support among international funding organisations.

The Start-Up programme would include entrepreneurs well in areas like renewable energy, agriculture,health and micro-enterprises, especially in MSME segments,” he said.

According to the SDF, currently, only 4 per cent of the total trade of the eight SAARC member nations is taking place within the region.

This can be increased significantly by initiatives like e-commerce, a booming business across the world. Stakeholders can work on building common facilities for logistic, warehousing and transportation, the SDF said.

With an authorised capital of USD 1.5 billion and a total capital base of USD 500 million, Motiwal said the SDF is working to enhance its credit portfolio to USD 300 million in the next few years by financing a range of projects including renewable sources, transportation, telecom and environment in the SAARC region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sdf-plans-cross-border-e-commerce-platform-118070900947_1.html

SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SAARC CCI) President, Ruwan Edirisinghe led delegation attended the SAARC Development Fund Partnership Conclave 2018 on Regional Integration through Project Collaboration and Investments and the event has strategic and regional importance in South Asia.

SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Partnership Conclave 2018 was held on July 2- 3, 2018 in International Centre, New Delhi, India.

The conclave was aimed towards Strategic Growth in the South Asia region through Project Collaboration and Regional Integration and proposes to: Solicit Cross-Border Project Co-Financing under the Social, Economic & Infrastructure Windows of SDF in SAARC Member States. Build partnerships with various organizations for Fund Mobilization and Investments in SAARC Member States.

Speaking at the event SAARC CCI President, Ruwan Edirisinghe highlighted importance of improving Intra-regional trade within South Asia to reduce poetry and boost job creation and SDF is the main instrument that will facilitate economic cooperation via financial connectivity among the SAARC regions.

For the Conclave Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Government of India was the chief guest.

SAARC CCI an apex body of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is to promote economic cooperation in South Asia and has augmented the efforts of SAARC to achieve the milestones of regional integration.

SAARC CCI believes that intra-regional investment, intra-regional trade and joint ventures among the SAARC member states is the way forward to address the key challenges the region faces; poverty and job creation. SAARC CCI is committed to unleashing the true potential of SAARC region. The SDF is currently implementing 12 regional projects with more than 70 implementing in all the eight SAARC member-countries under the social window funding.

Currently, the two main projects finalized by SDF are; a waste-to-energy project in Sri Lanka involving participation of India and a hydro-power scheme in Nepal with participation of Bangladesh and India.

As per SDF Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Motiwal, the two projects entail a cumulative investment of $30 million. Other potential regional connectivity projects are under SDF’s active consideration to co-finance in SAARC member-states. Therefore, SDF is well poised to contribute significantly in achieving its developmental role in the SAARC region along with SAARC CCI.

The United Nations Development Programme in Asia and the Pacific today announced a partnership with the SAARC Development Fund to collaborate on support to eight South Asian countries in attaining the newly adopted Sustainable Development Agenda 2030..

The partnership, which envisions cooperation on areas such as energy access, micro-credit, women’s empowerment and climate change, was formalized through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

Mr. Haoliang Xu, Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific, signed on behalf of the programme. Dr. Sunil Motiwal, Chief Executive Officer of the SDF represented the Fund.

“I am delighted to announce this strategic partnership with the SDF. We will together take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to create even more economic growth in the region, while fostering social good and sustainable development for people in SAARC countries,” said Haoliang Xu.

Since it’s inception in 2005, the SDF has served as an ‘umbrella financial mechanism’ for all projects and programmes undertaken by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – an economic and geopolitical organisation of eight countries in South Asia.

“This partnership will play a significant role in regional integration and cooperation among SAARC member states, as together we can mobilize funding for larger social, economic and infrastructure projects to benefit the people of the SAARC region,” said Dr. Sunil Motiwal.

The SDF has a fund at over USD 400 million and efforts are being made to leverage these funds through partnerships and co-financing to maximize the development benefits to the SAARC region.

Through its ‘Social Window’ funding mechanism, SDF focuses on poverty alleviation and social development projects, while its Infrastructure Window covers projects in the areas such as energy, power, transportation, telecommunications, environment, tourism etc. The Economic Window is devoted to non-infrastructural funding.

Under the MOU, UNDP will provide policy and programme support at country and regional levels to undertake initiatives and bring to bear best global practice and learning on key development issues. UNDP and SDF will work collaboratively to explore and leverage resources for co-funding development efforts in SAARC Member States.

SAARC fund to soon launch social enterprise programme in India, 7 other member nations

The programme intends to fund around 80 enterprises across the 8 SAARC member states annually.” said SDF CEO Sunil Motiwal.

Thimpu-based SAARC Development Fund will soon be launching a social enterprise development programme (SEDP) to fund 80 entities annually across the 8-member states including India, said SDF CEO Sunil Motiwal. SDF was established by the Heads of the eight SAARC member states in April 2010 and its Governing Council comprises finance ministers of these eight countries.

SDF is in the process of launching the SEDP as part of its social window, Motiwal said in an interview to PTI. “The programme will be implemented in all the SAARC member states with the objective of identifying and building social enterprises by using a mix of grants and concessional returnable capital. The programme intends to fund around 80 enterprises across the 8 SAARC member states annually.” he said.

SDF has already committed USD 73.74 million for social window projects as of date out of which it has disbursed USD 47 million to the member states for social window projects. “Recently we have in-principle approved two energy infrastructure projects in the region with a loan commitment of USD 30 million under our infrastructure window. Other potential regional connectivity projects are under our active consideration to co-finance in SAARC member states,” Motiwal said.

SDF is currently implementing 12 regional projects with more than 70 implementing and lead implementing agencies covering all the member countries under the social window funding. Stating that MSMEs are important constituent of any economy, he said the SDF will soon be coming out with a programme to provide line of credit to the sector across the member states.