RECORDER REPORT
LAHORE: Pakistan will host three-day meeting of all senior vice presidents and all vice presidents from SAARC member countries on Friday (today) to chalk out strategies to materialize its vision 2030 for the common betterment of the people of the South Asia.
SAARC Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik talking to media said the meeting is crucial in this regard that there is dire need of an economic agenda which will be fruitful and result-oriented to diminish poverty and uplift the living standard of the common people of the region.
He is much optimistic that this time all SAARC member states would work closely in taking regional co-operation forward.
“SAARC CCI President Ruwan Edirising could play an important role as catalyst to bring all the member states together and ensure timely and effective implementation of programme and activities that would benefit the region,” he added.
He said that the agenda of the meeting will be focused on enhancing trade among all the SAARC countries - Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, and Afghanistan. The matters pertaining to free trade in the SAARC region will also be discussed threadbare. The meeting will also be discussed in details about the proposal of harmonisation of customs procedures and documentations in the region to facilitate movement of goods across the borders, he added. Malik said there is a dire need for improved connectivity in the region - including through land, sea and air route - and early signing of Motor Vehicle and Railways Agreements.
He emphasized the need to overcome the difficulties that the organization faced and expressed the hope that under dynamic leadership of Ruwan Edirising SAARC CCI will play an effective role for the economic integration of the region.
He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to regional cooperation under the umbrella of SAARC for promoting welfare of the people of South Asia, improving their quality of life, economic progress, social uplift and cultural cooperation.
He highlighted that although SAARC region holds immense trade and investment potential, being home to 21 percent of world’s population, it still remains one of the least integrated regional blocs with intra-regional trade constituting only 5 percent of the total world trade, in comparison to 51 percent for NAFTA and 25 percent for ASEAN.
He said SAARC CCI has identified 20 projects in each SAARC member states and joint ventures have been signed for 12 projects across SAARC and some are in the negotiation stage.
He said they will also discuss in the meeting of the current status of SAARC industrial parks.
“In Pakistan, the government has provided 150 acres of land in Faisalabad and the governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are also keen on providing land to develop industrial parks,” he added.
Malik said due to lack of physical infrastructure to unleash the economic potential of the region, SAARC-CCI had also identified some projects of energy, connectivity, and taking advantage of value addition in information technology sector. However, political situation remains very difficult in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Most member nations are at present focused on resolving political uncertainties and economic agenda has taken a back seat, he said.
