RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: A team of Asian Development Bank (ADB), led by Peter Turner, Wednesday visited the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and discussed a number of issues including National Transportation Policy (NTP), Economic development of Pakistan, business climate in the country and china Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

During a meeting with the LCCI office bearers, President Abdul Basit and Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Peter Turner said that effectiveness of transportation system is directly related to the trade and economic activities. He said that inefficiencies in the performance of the transport sector of Pakistan costs economy 4-6 percent of the GDP annually. Asian Development Bank has been assisting Pakistan address this issue but investment in transportation infrastructure must be backed by the institutional improvement, he said.

On China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said that it is important project that would help connect Iran, Turkey, Central Asian States and Afghanistan. Transport system is a must for the movement of trading goods to get maximum benefit of the CPEC project, he added.

The LCCI President Abdul Basit said that national transport policy would supplement the government’s efforts to improve transport infrastructure that would help enhance local and regional trade. Well planned, safe, better maintained, and regionally connected transport infrastructure is the key to unlocking the economic growth potential of Pakistan, he said.

It is good to see that seaports, rail network, motorways, tunnels and bridges are being developed by spending billions of rupees to support the future requirements of intra-regional trade. The current infrastructural development has opened many avenues to expand the trade links to Central Asian Republics and on the other hand to Turkey via road and sea routes, he added.

Abdul Basit said that Pakistan has acceded to TIR Convention 1975 last year and this year its implementation is scheduled which will facilitate international carriage of goods by road under harmonized system of International Road Transport Union IRU/TIR.

He said the government has approved cross-border trade reforms on April 6, 2017 which would be implemented in different phases. However, the gap between suggestive measures and ground realities has to be minimized to achieve the desired results. These factors have further necessitated the need of having well thought out National Transport Policy, he maintained.