SAARC after Three Decades
The paper explores the progress of regional cooperation in various functional areas as identified by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) since its inception in 1985. It also examines whether and to what extent SAARC has been successful in accomplishing the goals enshrined in its charter. SAARC was formed: to promote peace, amity, stability and progress in the region; to promote the welfare and quality of life of people; to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development, and; to attain collective and national self-reliance through joint efforts. SAARC made significant progress in several areas, such as: agriculture and rural development; environment; science and technology; human resource development including education, arts, culture and sports; transport; telecommunications, and information and communication technology; tourism, and energy. It has concluded several agreements and conventions besides setting up a few regional centres to realize its objectives. Generally, SAARC has not successful in implementing its programs and projects due to various reasons. It has been short of achieving several of its goals which makes its performance dismal.
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SAARC, South Asia, Regional Cooperation, IPA, Performance
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(1) Manzoor Ahmed Naazer
Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations, International Islamic University, Islamabad.
(2) Sumbul Hussan
Junior Research Fellow at HRC, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Views: 5,966·Downloads: 84·Citations: …
Working Capital and Fixed Investment Effect on Sales Growth in SAARC Countries SMEs
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The study investigates the impact of various financing sources of working capital and fixed investment on sales growth. Population of the study comprises South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries’ small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Data of 6777 SMEs is retrieved from World Bank’s website. Multiple regression model is used to achieve the study objectives. Results signify a positive link between bank financing use for working capital and sales growth while the negative link between friends and family finance and sales growth is observed. Similarly all formal sources of finance used for fixed investment have positive link with sales growth. Finally, it is found that the government interventions and policy makers can alleviate access to formal sources of finance for boosting sales growth.
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SME’s, Informal Finance, Nonbank Financial Institute, SAARC Countries, Working Capital, Fixed Investment
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(1) Asad Ullah
PhD Scholar,Institute of Business studies, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Khushnood
Assistant Professor,Institute of Business Studies, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Hafizullah
Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Studies,Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat, KP, Pakistan.
Views: 3,186·Downloads: 49·Citations: …
