Former Maldives president Mamun Abdul Gayyum said on Monday the current leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation need to be 'practical' for resolving the problems facing the region.
'They must be practical,' he said at a news conference in Dhaka.
Asked about failure of SAARC in achieving its goals since its launching in Dhaka in 1985, Gayyum, himself one of its founders, said, 'We had not been able to achieve ambitions and goals due to lack of resources and many technical reasons'.
'It does not mean that the SAARC has totally failed,' he said.
He said, 'It's up to the leaders to find ways to accelerate SAARC.'
Gayyum arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on a four-day visit at the invitation of the University of Science and Technology of Chittagong as the convocation speaker at its 4th convocation to be held at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre on June 29, USTC authorities said.
The region's governments and the private sector need to work together, he said, to ensure quality higher education to be able to get rid of poverty, create employment and provide health care to the people.
Asked about the Bangladeshi workers in Maldives, he said, 'We need them. But some social problems are bound to crop up due to economic downturn. Lot of Maldivians lost their jobs and the salaries are already reduced.'
Asked about his country's preparation for facing the adverse impacts of climate change, he said relocation of people to other countries and buying land abroad 'are no solution' to climate change.
He said that all the countries need to work together to tackle climate change 'as it's a global problem.'
USTC founder, National Professor Dr Nurul Islam, was present at the news conference.
Gayyum met prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her office Monday.
It is his sixth visit to Bangladesh.
Source : New Age
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