July 31, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 27, 1429

COLOMBO, July 30: To respond collectively to the challenge of managing food and energy crisis in the member countries of the region a proposal to institute a joint fund and create an organisation to retain buffer stocks of food would be discussed at the Saarc Summit to be held here on Aug 2 and 3.

Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogallagama reported to have said in a press conference that the issues related to hike in food and fuel crisis would be taken up by the Saarc leaders in the light of the recent experiences in the region.

No details were available of the exact nature of the fund and the mechanisms to enable member states to access the fund and the buffer stocks proposed to be built.

The economies of all Saarc states have come under stress because of the surge in commodity and oil prices. The inflation is touching record high level in all countries, big and small, and the government’s ability to cushion the impact of the price shock has gone down.

The theme of the Summit is “Partnership for our people” as a sequel to the 14th Summit theme “Connectivity in the region” held in New Delhi last year.

Though it was the turn of Maldives, Sri Lanka is hosting the 15th conference of the Saarc after obtaining consent of all member states from July 27 to Aug 3 to coincide with its sixtieth anniversary of independence which fell on Feb 4, 2008.