Speech made by Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Minister of Science and Technology at the Second Meeting of the SAARC Ministers of Science and Technology held in Colombo recently.

It is my great pleasure to welcome warmly the ministers and delegates from the member countries who have come to Colombo for the Second Meeting of the SAARC Ministers of Science and Technology. I hope that you are not too tired after your journey and that we will be able to have a successful meeting in Sri Lanka at a time when President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is the incumbent Chairman of SAARC.

The countries of the SAARC region have a rich history and an ancient culture of which we are all proud. The achievements of our ancestors in the field of science and technology contributed to the great developments of the past. Anyone visiting Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa comes away amazed at the excellence of the irrigation systems and the temples and other constructions that are well preserved even today. The hydraulic civilisation of the past led to self-sufficiency in food. We have to build on our rich past to meet the challenges of today.

I think we are all aware that the SAARC region has the largest number of poor people, and as such, there is a great burden on us to utilise science, technology and innovation to reduce the levels of poverty in our countries. We are all aware of the need to develop centres of excellence in the advanced technologies within the countries of the region if we are to establish the industries that can generate jobs for our people. Considering that we have to meet the challenges of the competitive global market, it is necessary to have centres of world class in several countries of the region. The countries that are unable to do so in some of the fields should be able to access facilities in other SAARC member countries.

We also need to disseminate the benefits from the application of these technologies to member countries and within a country to the rural areas. We must also ensure that our region generates all the food that is required and that this reaches all the needy people. Science and Technology should be used to maximise productivity, specially of essential food items, in the agricultural sector, minimise post-harvest losses and ensure that food prices are affordable. While we need to minimise pollution to reduce the impact of climate change, we need to carefully monitor the climate change that is a consequence of global warming so that we can adapt in time.

We must prevail on the rich industrial countries to drastically reduce their levels of pollution so as to minimise the impact on the countries of the SAARC region. Scientific knowledge must reach everybody and to facilitate easy and quick access ICT and the mass media should be maximally utilised. To evoke an interest in science requires the establishment of science museums and exploratoria. Training of scientists upto international standards and providing them with the necessary facilities for research and development are also among the many challenges before us. In this era of globalisation and the open market, rich and powerful countries like those of Europe have had to come together, as the European Union, to meet the economic challenges of today.

It is, therefore, vital that the countries of South Asia come together and work together effectively as one regional SAARC organisation. We need to create the necessary operational framework to enable us to achieve effective cooperation and to pool our resources so that we emerge as a powerful force in the world's economy. The gap between the rich and poor countries is basically a technology gap, which determines the difference in the levels of industry, agriculture, and also the service sector. The South Asian Region is handicapped in its efforts to achieve economic development by the inadequate capacity in science and technology as well as the great unevenness of development between and within countries of the region.

A great effort has to be made to build up the necessary science and technology infrastructure, which should include world class centres of excellence. Though we have a large intelligent population, the human resources in the field of science and technology are grossly inadequate for our development needs. While North America has 4,600 scientists per million people, Europe has 2,000 and East Asia/Pacific has 700, South Asia has only 120. The working environment for scientists does not compare with that available in developed countries.

The outcome is a large brain drain, which includes some of the best brains. To change this situation in a favourable manner would require a substantial national financial commitment backed by the necessary political will. In developing the total science and technology capability of the region we need to actively cooperate and pool our limited resources. We must help each other to develop the necessary capacity for science and technology, with emphasis on infrastructure and human resource development. Much of the cooperation at present is confined to workshops and conferences. We need to develop a far reaching pragmatic plan of action that would effectively deal with the economic and social problems of the region. Separate and adequate funds should be made available to support the requisite regional science and technology programmes and activities. A suitable mechanism should be established for speedy and effective cooperation with minimal red-tape.

Sri Lanka is ready to share with all SAARC countries our limited facilities and we invite scientists from all countries to use the SAARC mechanisms to workout programmes for collaborations to our mutual benefit. We all recognise that the degree of regional cooperation is far too low and we need to work out effective mechanisms to achieve adequate levels of collaboration and collective effort. I hope that this second meeting of the Ministers of Science and Technology with the support of the participating officials and scientists will achieve this objective and bring tangible benefits to our people. We must lay the foundation for achieving the economic take off that will eliminate poverty and hunger and lead to our region emerging as a dynamic centre of development that can match or better East Asia. We must ensure that products from the SAARC region are a guarantee of good quality. I trust that our deliberations will help to achieve the successful outcome for our region and its people that we all desire. I wish you a pleasant stay in Sri Lanka.