ISLAMABAD: Dr Vaqar Ahmed, the Deputy Executive Director,
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad, has stressed the
need for normalizing trade relations between Pakistan and India to benefit both
the local manufacturers and consumers besides technology transfer and greater
export surplus.
He was speaking at a two-day regional consultation on
`Deepening Economic Cooperation in South Asia: Expectations from the 18th SAARC
Summit' organized by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment
(SAWTEE) in cooperation with SDPI in Kathmandu.
The programme was organized as a side-event to the 18th
SAARC Summit to provide useful recommendations to deepen economic cooperation
in South Asia.
"The Government of Pakistan must take a lead in
expediting SAARC-level pending agreements on transport, energy, connectivity
and dispute resolution," Dr Vaqar said, adding that the current free trade
agreements in the region should be revised to include investment and technology
clauses. He suggested that trade and investment barriers can be addressed only
by increasing people to people interaction and moving towards a more open visa
regime.
Earlier, In his inaugural remarks, Nepalese Foreign Affairs
Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey said that South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) has long dreamed of deeper regional cooperation for
economic growth and prosperity, and has undertaken initiatives to facilitate
trade and investment, and improve regional connectivity. However, financial and
investment-related constraints largely affect the efficient implementation of
trade and transport facilitation measures.
He expressed the hope that SAARC would undertake necessary
steps to promote intra-regional investments and attract foreign direct
investments (FDIs).
Expressing dissatisfaction over most of the countries'
failure in implementing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the region, he
emphasized that the SAARC Development Goals should be aligned with the
Sustainable Development Goals in line with the post-2015 development agenda.
Further, he highlighted the necessity to take mitigation and
adaptive measures to address the threat of climate change, which is going to
impact, among others, food security of the region. Strengthening of regional
cooperation on this front is essential, he added. He expressed hope that the
18th SAARC Summit would be able to send across a strong message that SAARC
leaders are ready to revitalize and implement all past initiatives undertaken
by SAARC to deepen regional integration.
Adil Khattak, CEO of Attock Oil Refineries, said as to how
regional supply chains in energy sector could alleviate the various forms of
power and gas deficits in Pakistan and South Asia. He said Pakistan had
significant potential of trade in energy and petroleum products with South
Asian countries, which should not go wasted due to the slow cooperation in
SAARC region.
Former President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce and Industries Zubair Ahmed provided an account of the barriers faced
by the business community when conducting trade within South Asia, and stressed
the need to go beyond trade in goods and also look at how to exploit the
untapped potential of the services sector.
He called upon the Government of Pakistan to grant MFN
status to India.
SAWTEE Executive Chairman Dr Posh Raj Pandey said that
despite the existence of SAARC, progress in deepening regional integration has
been frustratingly slow and gains have only been modest. "What is needed
to move SAARC forward is political will and sincere commitments at the highest
level," he suggested.
He further said that informal trade in the region being
substantially higher than formal trade is testimony of policy-induced trade
barriers, which need to be overcome to make SAARC a truly economically
integrated region.
More than 60 participants, including researchers, policy
makers, private sector representatives and media, among others, from different
South Asian countries participated in the regional consultation.
They deliberated on issues such as trade and transport
facilitation, and transit; non- tariff barriers; trade, gender and technology
transfer; India-Pakistan trade relations; intra- regional investment
cooperation; and regional cooperation for energy security.
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