Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon has stressed the urgent need of strengthening regional cooperation among member states to usher an era of prosperity, progress, development and alleviate the abject poverty in the region.

Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour in Islamabad on Sunday, the Secretary General called upon the SAARC council of ministers to hold a meeting to address the procedural issues due to which SAARC and its apex allied bodies are greatly suffering.

He also urged the member states to take necessary measures to accelerate the economic and commercial growth SAARC countries.

Welcoming the SAARC Secretary General, founder chairman of Pak US Business Council Iftikhar Ali Malik, on behalf of Pakistani business community, said that SAARC must evolve a viable strategy to help remove the bottlenecks impeding intra-regional-trade and economic ties within the region.

He called upon the member states to unlock the potential of regional economic cooperation and integration in South Asia and revisit their policy priorities to promote economic connectivity.