Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has stressed the need for enhancing trade among member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in high-growth sectors including information technology, manufacturing, energy, tourism and agribusiness.
Talking to APP on Saturday, PBF Lahore President Momin Ali Malik regretted that trade among South Asian nations was declining every year.
He said there had been rapid economic growth in the region, but unfortunately it confronted a range of complex issues and barriers to trade that limited cross-border regional trade.
“Contrary to this, we see increased integration in other regional blocs,” he said, arguing that intra-regional trade was over 40% under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), 68% in the European Union (EU) and 27% under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Their economic integration was directly linked to their GDP per capita, higher productivity, reduced poverty and unemployment. Malik stressed the need for studying the successes achieved by other regions and adopting their strategies of regional identity and solidarity to ensure speedy economic growth and people’s prosperity in the Saarc region as well.
He pointed out that according to a notification, issued by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Pakistan’s government would help create job opportunities for unemployed youth in the country. “According to an estimate, SIFC will provide job opportunities to around 20 million people directly and around 100 million individuals indirectly in the next five years,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2023.
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