ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that Pakistan was implementing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which would also complement the regional connectivity initiatives of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) countries.
“The CPEC offers a massive opportunity for connectivity between Central Asia, Middle East and Africa and is bound to play a defining role in the economic development of our region,” he said in his welcome address at the 15th CAREC Ministerial Meeting on the theme of “Linking Connectivity with Economic Transformation in CAREC”, held in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the meeting while President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao, representatives of CAREC member states, members of the Diplomatic Corps, federal ministers, senior officials also attended the meeting.
The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Division.
Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar said that improving transport corridor was not an end in itself but it was an investment in establishing sound infrastructure and complementary frameworks for opportunities in shared prosperity for the present and future generations of our region.
He added that the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) and Transport & Trade Facilitation Strategy (TTFS) provided the platform to ensure effective implementation of communications, transport and trade-related projects.
This would enable more efficient and comprehensive approach to achieving the goals of establishing competitive corridors, facilitating movement of goods and people through these corridors and providing sustainable, safe, and user-friendly transport and trade networks, the Minister said.
“Once the six CAREC Corridors and major seaports start providing access to the global markets, they will deliver services that will be important for national and regional competitiveness, productivity, employment, mobility, and environmental sustainability”, he remarked.
The Finance Minister appreciated the efforts of the President Asian Development Bank, Takehiko Nakao, his team and the CAREC members for making this event possible.
“I understand that productive discussions have been held during the CAREC Senior Officials’ meeting yesterday. These discussions covered sharing updates on the progress of priority sectors of CAREC, mid-term review of CAREC 2020, and consultations on the development of a CAREC Economic Corridor”, he remarked.
He was confident that the areas of collaboration and specific initiatives under the CAREC Programme would significantly improve connectivity in the region.
“The projects being implemented in the four core areas of communications, trade facilitation, trade policy and energy coupled with the economic corridor development would enable increased trade, enhanced availability of energy and improvement in quality of lives for all people in the region”, he said.
