The SAARC and Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) on Tuesday signed an MoU to foster collaboration between the organisations in mutually agreed areas.
The MoU was signed at the SAARC Secretariat here between SAARC Secretary General Arjun B. Thapa and CIRDAP Director General Dr. Cecep Effendi.
Issuing a statement today, the SAARC Secretariat said that the MoU signed stands to open up a panorama of opportunities for the organisations to complement each other's efforts in rural development.
Rural development and women empowerment through agro- processing are among the many areas of cooperation outlined in the MoU.
Promoting inter-regional trade in agricultural products, adopting techniques of climate smart agriculture, generating user friendly database on rural statistics, establishing a virtual and multi-stakeholder supported Rural Development Information System (RDIS) are some other areas identified in the MoU.
SAARC comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while CIRDAP consists of six SAARC countries (excepting Bhutan and the Maldives) as well as Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, with its headquarters based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
