ADB team terms road system key to CPEC’s success

Says investment must be backed by institutional improvement.

LAHORE: A team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), led by Peter Turner, on Wednesday called on Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Abdul Basit and discussed a number of issues including national transportation policy, economic development of Pakistan and the current business climate.

LCCI Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa and Zeeshan Khalil also spoke on the occasion.

Turner said that effectiveness of the transportation system is directly related to trade and economic activities. Basit said that inefficiencies in the performance of the transport sector of Pakistan costs the economy 4 to 6% of the Gross Domestic Product annually.

He said that the ADB has been assisting Pakistan to address this issue but investment in transportation infrastructure must be backed by institutional improvement.

On the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said, “To get a good result out of CPEC, a sound transportation system is a necessity for the movement of trading goods.”

LCCI president said the national transport policy will supplement the government’s efforts to improve transport infrastructure that would help enhance local and regional trade.

He added that it is good to see seaports, rail network, motorways, tunnels and bridges are being developed by spending billions of rupees to support the future requirements of intra-regional trade.

He said that the current infrastructural development has opened many avenues to expand the trade links to Central Asian Republics and on the other hand to Turkey via road and sea routes.

According to Basit, the business community is worried about Pakistan’s low ranking in one of the factors of the Ease of Doing Business index called trading across borders.

As per the World Bank Report 2017, Pakistan stands at 172 out of 192 countries. He said that on April 6, 2017, the government had approved the cross-border trade reforms to be implemented in different phases, which will help Pakistan improve its ranking.

However, the gap between suggestive measures and ground realities has to be minimised to achieve the desired results.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2017.

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