In view of the strong desire among the creative community of South Asia to enhance cooperation and promote peace in the region through the medium of culture, SAF decided to launch projects that would actively further the cause of cultural synthesis.

A meeting of the SAF Sub-Committee on Culture that was held from September 23-25, 2002, in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France was presided over by Prof. Salima Hashmi, SAF-Pakistan Chairperson, and attended by the secretaries of SAF Advisory Boards. They proposed that in due course SAF may organise workshops and camps for writers and artists from the region.

It was proposed that a Young Painters' Workshop, may be held in Kandy, the site of the upcoming SAARC Cultural Centre in Sri Lanka. The Centre, in the building of which SAF has promised to match the amount allocated for the project by the government of Sri Lanka, will provide a forum for artists from the region to gather, share their artistic skills and widen their experiences in the performing arts. It was proposed to invite four artists each from the participating countries to work together for a fortnight on a theme which will reflect the cause of regional cooperation and peace.

A Young Writers Friendship Camp, which will bring together talented poets and writers of South Asia, was proposed to be held in Nepal. Translators in regional languages and upcoming publishers will also be invited to make the interaction more productive. Prominent contemporary writers in South Asia have experienced tremendous odds in trying to translate their works into the regional languages. By bringing writers and publishers of the region on the same platform, SAF hopes to give a fillip to the dissemination of important works of language and literature across the region.