"The forum is moving away from rhetoric and is now increasingly swinging into multi-faceted socio-economic programmes that will greatly contribute to the concerted quest for a happier and healthier South Asia," he said in an interview with BSS in the Indian capital soon after the conclusion of the 14th summit of the regional leaders.

Fakhruddin returned home on Thursday night after leading the Bangladesh delegation to the two-day conference of eight heads of state and government of the region.

The chief adviser sees the outcome of the summit "very positive" and greatly encouraging" and says the 30-point "New Delhi Declaration" adopted in the conference has opened up and enlarged opportunities of enormous socio-economic cooperation with innovative ideas.

"We must spare no efforts to put the programme into practice both on a short-and long-term basis," he said, adding, "The summit has taken a firm resolve in that direction."

Fakhruddin Ahmed, a noted economist with both national and international field-level experience, visualises a prosperous region of more than 1.4 billion people given the kind of determination and sincere efforts required for the desirable transformation.

He says things may not change overnight, but action-oriented policy coupled with collective spirit would definitely go a long way in changing the plight of the South Asia.

Turning specifically to the 14th summit, the chief adviser said four areas--food security, energy, water and environment --- have been identified as crucially important for the Saarc and qualitative change has also been agreed upon to deal with these sectors.

Resources constraints are undeniably a handicap for the region and as such cooperation with outside world would now be developed a priority basis, he said.

The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank will be approached for cooperation in such vital areas like water and energy so that sufferings of the member countries can be minimised in a spirit of collective responsibilities.

The chief adviser ended his interview on a philosophical note, saying no people can be robbed of their desired progress if they are committed to achieving their objectives.

"South Asia lagged behind in many areas for long, but time has come to change the situation," he said, adding, "There has been paradigm shift in priority in the region towards collective progress and prosperity."