President leaves for SAARC Summit
November 9, 2011 at 10:32 am · Close Watch
President Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Maldives this morning (9) to participate in the 17th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, the President’s Media Unit said.
The two day SAARC summit is beginning on Thursday(10) at Addu City in Maldives.
President Rajapaksa is addressing the Summit on November 10, the first day of the Summit, it added.
He is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his regional counterparts on the sidelines of the Summit.
The 17th Summit themed ‘Building Bridges’ is expected to review the progress in the implementation of the decisions taken in earlier Summits.
Five regional agreements concerning Charter of Democracy, Rapid Response to Natural Disasters, Seed Bank, Multilateral Recognition of Conformity Assessment and Implementation of Regional Standards will be signed during the Summit.
The Summit will be preceded by the meetings of Council of Foreign Ministers and the Standing Committee.
This is the third occasion that Maldives will host the SAARC summit, the previous two being held in 1990 and 1997.
(JNW)