KATHMANDU: Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar has said that due to Pakistani government strong economic policy foreign investment is increasing in the country.
Addressing the 7th SAARC Foreign Minister’s Conference, he said as we all understand, our region is endowed with vast natural and human resources. Our rich heritage and our combined resources lend us vast potential for development and prosperity. We can ensure the socio-economic uplift of our region by further promoting regional cooperation and collaboration. Just to cite one instance, it is a pity that most of the SAARC member states are facing power shortages despite the fact that the region has a lot of potential to generate cheap and clean energy. This could serve as a constant reason and reminder of the need to explore more opportunities and possibilities for enhanced cooperation through wider economic integration across the region.
Global trade statistics reveal that while the volume of trade between SAARC states and the rest of the world is increasing, intra-regional trade remains far below its potential. We have, therefore, to evolve mechanism to incentivize formal trade among the SAARC member countries. In this context, I would like to re-emphasize the need for a gradual reduction and eventual elimination of Tariffs, Para-tariffs and Non-tariff barriers so as to allow freer trade amongst the SAARC states. A good starting point for this could be the simplification of procedures for the issuance of SAFTA Certificates of Origin. Work on the sensitive lists should be aimed at gradually phasing out these lists.
Nothing would promote regional integration more than projects of regional connectivity, not limited merely to enable movement of goods and services but also sharing of natural resources and enhancing the proximity of regional countries to access those resources. In this regard, Pakistan is very keen to build the Inter-state pipeline known as Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI). This would be an example of affording enhanced proximity of the member states to natural resources of the region. Yet another project of regional integration we have undertaken relates to the transmission of electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan known as CASA-1000, which will provide 1300 MW of electricity.
More importantly we are working with China on the concept of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which would open up the central Asian region by building roads, railways and, consequently, the enhanced trade potential of the region. There are challenging opportunities to connect the member countries through all modes of connectivity, such as roads, air, railways, telecommunications and sea and we should not hesitate to think out-of-the-box to realize them.
Having achieved satisfactory macro-economic stability, currently we are promoting higher inclusive economic growth leading to more job opportunities in Pakistan and would happily share our experience with other member countries. Given the size of our populations and present standards of living, it is imperative that our policies promote inclusive growth. In this regard, promotion of peace in the region is equally important. Pakistan is contributing to regional peace and we have given a very high cost both in blood and treasure. We have sacrificed tens of thousands of precious human lives in the war on terror which has also resulted in economic losses of over US$ 100 billion.
I appreciate the efforts of SAARC Secretariat for conducting a study on ‘South Asian Economic Union (SAEU)’ in collaboration with the member states and with the technical and financial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for which we are thankful to ADB. Pakistan fully endorses the recommendations of the informal meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers held in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 3, 2015.
Capital flows especially Foreign Direct Investment across SAARC region can accelerate economic growth through technology transfer and skills acquisition. In order to boost intra-regional capital flows, the first step would be to liberalize our financial sector regimes even further. In this context, I would like to mention that Pakistan offers one of the most liberal foreign exchange regimes in the region. Furthermore, to strengthen support for intra-regional trade we can simplify visa requirements for the business community, liberalize procedures for banks of member states wishing to open branches in other member state, and fast-track customs clearance, he concluded as saying.
