On behalf of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and South Asian Journal, I welcome you all to the first South Asian Journal Conference. South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and South Asian Journal initiated a project in 2005 to develop an interactive network of experts for the South Asian Policy Analysis (SAPANA) Network. SAPANA is to be a non-partisan, South Asia-wide research and policy analysis network and is expected to play an influential role in guiding discussion, analysis and policy both in South Asia and outside the region. For SAPANA, our first task was to set up 14 Research Groups to conduct research on a certain area related to South Asia. These research groups have undertaken research, critically analysed current policies, and recommended policy alternatives in the designated area. Members of the Research Groups were carefully chosen from a long list of experts in their area of specialisation and amongst those who work on the South Asian region. These experts were all given a particular theme on which they had to research and this -- SAPANA's initial research -- is being presented today at this conference for evaluation. Our next step is to incorporate necessary amendment in these papers and they will be published in mid-2006 in the form of a series of books.

When we started SAPANA, many questioned the rationale behind forming yet another think tank, in the presence of a host of institutions doing exactly this kind of work and that too, in South Asia. The reasoning behind forming this virtual think tank was that most of the research that takes place in the countries of South Asia is either too academic or largely superficial. SAPANA has been formed to encourage thorough, scientific research which will then be translated and disseminated to the educated reader. One of SAPANA's biggest advantage is it's affiliation with South Asian Free Media Association and South Asian Journal. Since most academic research fails to appear in the public arena, the SAPANA Network will make use of this proximity with SAFMA and use the media to allow SAPANA's research output to be available to the public.

The SAPANA Network, as we can see from the themes of the 14 research groups, is to be multidimensional and multifaceted. It does not focus on any ONE area or theme, rather designs research themes of a more topical and immediate nature, making flexibility one of the network's major strengths.

The design and purpose of the SAPANA Network is to serve as a platform for policy dialogue and intervention through liaison with policy makers and with governments in separate countries and in South Asia as a whole.

When SAFMA launched its South Asian Journal, the most difficult task was to find suitable experts, scholars, researchers for various themes and subjects relating to the South Asian region. The SAPANA Network, it is hoped, will also help in building a database of South Asian scholars, something that is needed for any kind of useful research initiatives in this region.

Our first phase is complete, with the think tank of scholars working on 14 different areas of research presenting their recommendations before this Conference. The next phase begins with formally establishing a Board of Advisors, which will consist of prominent and able researchers/academics/scholars from the South Asian region.

The major tasks that lie ahead are:

1. Building a comprehensive data base of all scholars and researchers in South Asia and those who work on South Asia abroad.
2. Planning for research themes in subsequent years and arranging small workshops on these themes (findings of which will be published).
3. Larger Conferences, once every two years which bring together many more themes and scholars.

It is envisaged that the SAPANA Network will design projects and commission research of a public and policy interest and perspective and will liaise with policy makers and government, through the media, in specific meetings with government, and through regular Conferences. Because of the already existing network of the Free Media Foundation and SAFMA, SAPANA is being perceived as a sort of a 'virtual' institution, and instead of employing scholars and researchers, will hire them on a need basis. This means that SAPANA will have a completely free hand in choosing researchers and academics from the huge pool available in South Asia. For this purpose, it can take on multi-thematic issues simultaneously, not constrained by its own in-house facilities or staff.

It is proposed that the SAPANA Network should establish itself as the leading Think Tank in South Asia in the first five years of its inception. SAPANA will work towards buliding a South Asian Union by looking at the history of a specific theme in the particular national and South Asian context with a clear focus towards future options, alternatives and policies. SAPANA scholars will also examine the implications of certain issues in a broader South Asian context, rising above official positions.