Amjad Hussain B Sial assumes office as Secretary General of SAARC

Pakistan's diplomat Amjad Hussain B Sial on 1 March 2017 assumed office as the Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Sial succeeds Nepal's Arjun Bahadur Thapa, who was appointed the Secretary-General in 2014.

The Pakistani diplomat will continue to be the Secretary-General of the SAARC till 28 February 2020.

Sial’s nomination was made by Pakistan at the SAARC Council of Ministers in Pokhara, Nepal, in March 2016. His nomination was endorsed by all member states.

Sial holds a rich experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy both at Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad and Missions abroad. He is a seasoned diplomat from Pakistan Foreign Service with over 33 years of career in the diplomatic field. Before joining the SAARC Secretariat, he served as Special Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. He also served as Pakistan's ambassador to Tajikistan and permanent representative at Pakistan Mission to the United Nations.

About South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia.

• Its member states include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

• As of 2015, it comprises 3 per cent of the world's area, 21 per cent of the world's population and 3.8 per cent of the global economy.

• SAARC was founded on 8 December 1985 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

• The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration.