ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said Pakistan was committed to promote economic cooperation through regional integration to achieve the goal of poverty reduction.
Addressing the 15th ministerial meeting of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in Islamabad, the Prime Minister said for the collective benefit of the region, it was necessary for the governments of the member countries to work towards betterment of their people.
The Prime Minister said CAREC is an important programme that encourages the regional countries to develop the areas mainly physical network, infrastructure, peace, stability and economic development.
He mentioned that the forum was significant in poverty reduction by facilitating trade policies among its member countries.
He welcomed the delegates from 200 countries and expressed confidence that their attendance at the CAREC meeting would help realize the dream of region’s prosperity and development.
Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan, which became the member of CAREC in 2010, was pro-active in facilitating projects critical to sustainable development.
He proposed a few measures for the promotion of CAREC’s vision, including the establishment of pool of experts of CAREC countries to work on knowledge in human resource.
The expertise of these experts in sectors of finance, banking, marketing, energy and infrastructure could be utilized, which would result in intra-regional transfer of knowledge, he added.
He said Pakistan was abundantly complied with international standards in trade activities and mentioned the improved economic conditions of the country.
The Prime Minister suggested that along with Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, the CAREC countries could work on the “CAREC Aviation and Open Skies Agreement”.
He appreciated that CAREC had mobilized 29 billion dollar in the projects of development of region and hoped that the mid-term review of CAREC in next 10 years would prove as an opportunity to fast track economic cooperation.
Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan believed CAREC as a premier organization to promote cooperation among member countries, particularly in areas of energy, transportation and trade policy facilitation.
He said Pakistan is a key facilitator of CAREC, bridging the South Asia and Central Asia.
The situation had never been more challenging, however, we are cognizant of dealing with them effectively, he added.
The Prime Minister mentioned that Pakistan government was experiencing an economic revival at present, with a greater momentum gained in energy, transport and infrastructure activities under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He hoped that besides Pakistan, the benefits of CPEC would be multiplied for the CAREC countries as well with the cooperation and integration of member countries.
