Set up network to improve functioning

Delegates from the Saarc countries have recommended setting up a regional 'government performance management network' to share experiences and emerging best practices in the region.
The member countries have also proposed institution of a Saarc award for innovations in government performance management and development of a system to facilitate government to government (G2G) consulting services in the Saarc region.
The recommendations made at the end of a workshop held in New Delhi on March 30-31 are likely to be placed for consideration at the next Saarc summit to be held on April 28-29 in Thimpu, Bhutan, according to a message received in Dhaka yesterday.
In his inaugural address, Indian Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar said that in an increasingly globalised world, government effectiveness holds the key to a nation's competitive advantage.
Experts agree that in the long run, race among nations will be won or lost not on the basis of comparative advantage arising from resource endowment, but by the competitive advantage created by effective governments, he added.
The workshop aimed at sharing the knowledge and experience on government performance management practices in Saarc countries was inaugurated by KM Chandrasekhar and attended by Secretary General of Saarc Sheel Kant Sharma along with the senior officials from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The workshop on 'Government Performance Management' was organised by India in response to a decision taken at the meeting of cabinet secretaries from the Saarc Countries held in November 2009.