CAREC states invited to join Pakistan's SEZs

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday invited member states of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) to integrate their value chains with Pakistan's Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and explore opportunities for cross-border industrial clusters by leveraging Pakistan's preferential trade agreements with China, Asean and the Middle East.

He extended the invitation while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the fifth annual Carec Institute Research Conference, held in collaboration with the University of Sargodha.

Themed "Carec Connectivity: Promoting Trade and Trade Facilitation," the conference brought together a diverse group of national and international stakeholders.

"Today, intra-regional trade among Carec countries (excluding China) accounts for only 7% of total trade. In contrast, Asean bloc member countries have over 22% of total trade among themselves," he said.

The Carec region, with a population of nearly two billion and vast reserves of energy, minerals and talent, was not short on potential, Iqbal said and stressed the need for a unified development strategy backed by collective action.

Sharing the new development vision called Uraan Pakistan, the minister said it was based on five strategic pillars including exports, equity and empowerment, e-Pakistan, environment, energy and infrastructure. This strategy is not isolated from regional ambitions; rather it is aligned fully with the Carec Vision 2030.

He pointed out that Pakistan was expanding high-value exports like IT, halal food and engineering goods. Pakistan's IT exports, for instance, have crossed $3.5 billion and are growing at an annual pace of 20%, empowering youth through digital skills.