The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) car rally which set off from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, was welcome when it reached Nepali capital, Kathmandu.

According to the National News Agency, RSS Sunday's report, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs KP Sharma Oli has said that the SAARC car rally would help enhance people to people relations and contribute to the socio-economic development of the region.

Speaking at a reception organized in honor of the participants of the rally here Saturday, he said a maximum utilization of the natural resources should be made in order to uplift the living standard of the hundreds of thousands of people living under the poverty line in this region.

Chief Coordinator of the rally and representatives of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bikram Badshaha said a total of 120 persons from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and 30 vehicles are in the rally, along with 20 vehicles are part of the rally.

Finally the rally will end in Male on April 14, where 15th SAARC summit is expected to be held.

The rally will reach New Delhi on April 3 and take part in the 14th SAARC summit.

The SAARC car rally, which began from Dhaka, Bangladesh, 10 days ago, is scheduled to cross 8,200 km before ending in the Maldives.

The major objective of the rally is to promote regional connectivity, people-to-people contact, goodwill, trade, tourism and business among the member states, the organizers said.

Source: Xinhua