Kathmandu April 29.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Development Fund has entered into the tenth year of its inception. The SDF was set up by the 16th SAARC Summit held in Thimphu, Bhutan to mobilise economic cooperation for raising the living standard of the people below the poverty line in the SAARC member States. The Fund has invested in 90 small and medium scale regional projects including in economic income, physical infrastructure and social security in all the eight member states in the last nine years. The SAARC Secretariat here has stated that these projects are focused on carrying out income generating works from home, assisting the farmers in solving their problems and supporting programmes aimed at reducing infant and maternal deaths. Similarly, the projects are related to expanding connectivity, promotion of good governance in rural areas through digital means, eradicating violence against women and children, ensuring easy access to potable water and promotion of health and sanitation. The Fund has also invested big amount of money in economic and infrastructure projects including energy, transport, tourism and the like by giving high priority to regional integration and economic progress.