A 19-point resolution was unanimously adopted at the two-day South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) regional conference that concluded in Dhaka on Saturday.
The resolution called for greater co-ordination among central banks to initiate sustained trading links, a customs union to formulate a common exchange rate policy, a common energy grid across the region with integrated electricity and gas system, and transport co-operation which would lead to an integrated transport infrastructure for uninterrupted travel from Peshawar to Chittagong and from Kathmadu to Colombo and, thereby, connecting the regions of Central Asia, the Persian Gulf, South East Asia and China with South Asia.
The conference also expressed deep concern over the arrest of former chairman of the Group of Eminent Persons and others in Maldives and increasing attacks on the Press in South Asian countries.
The resolution was drafted reflecting aspirations of the people of the region and to face challenges posed by the globalisation and to meet the demands of the WTO regime through enhanced regional co-operation.
The resolution also expressed its wholehearted support to Safma initiative to convene a conference of South Asian parliamentarians in March 2005. The resolution expressed the need for a uniform human rights code in the region and expressed the need for an institution under the Paris Principles.
Earlier, on the concluding day, there were thought-provoking papers on the prospects of South Asian monetary union and energy grid, South Asian economic union and parliament, and need for a united code of human rights for Saarc.
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