ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: The fourth meeting of Saarc commerce ministers on Monday agreed to put in more efforts to make Saarc a vibrant and powerful economic bloc.

Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan was also formally elected chairman of the meeting by the participants of the two-day meeting.

They unanimously adopted the report prepared by Committee on Economic Cooperation (CEC) comprising commerce secretaries of Saarc countries during their two-day meeting held here on November 20-21.

Wide ranging subjects like Safta, trade facilitation, the European Commission's GSP scheme and WTO-related issues were discussed in the meeting, which will conclude on Tuesday (Nov 23), followed a press conference where its decisions will be announced.

In his inaugural speech, Mr Khan said since the last meeting of Saarc member countries in 1999, the world had changed. "Although we experienced a cold whether in our relations, the spirit of Saarc will remain alive," he said.

Saarc countries, he said, had the potential of an engine of expansion of trade and commercial relations. Expansion in trade, he said, would create opportunities, and regional cooperation would enable each country to succeed in eliminating hunger and poverty in the future.

"The signing of Safta is only the beginning. More deliberation and concerted efforts are required to make it operational by the target date of January 1, 2006," the minister added.

He said deliberations of the Committee of Experts were at a crucial stage and added that he was confident that the process of finalizing the "Sensitive List and Rules of Origin" would proceed further in the same spirit of accommodation witnessed while signing Safta.

Safta, he said, provided a mechanism of preferential and differential treatment to the least developed countries (LDCs) of the South Asian region, which was better than any other regional arrangement.

Facilitation measures and positive approach, he said, was more important to increase regional trade and commerce. Without those steps it would be difficult to achieve objectives of Safta, he said, adding progress on those fronts was necessary and might be given due importance.