Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday urged countries in the region to work jointly in changing the economic landscape of South Asia and help get people out of the clutches of poverty, illiteracy and other social ills.
“Three decades back the South Asian leadership made a commitment to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development of our region,” Sharif said while addressing the inaugural function of a meeting here of Finance Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc).
“For economic and social progress of the masses, increasing connectivity, ease of communication, freer trade and finding solution to hunger, poverty and food insecurity has helped the world enhance regional and sub-regional co-operation.”
Sharif expressed the confidence that the deliberations of the Finance Ministers would complement the agenda of the 19th Saarc summit, which Pakistan looks forward to hosting on November 9-10 this year.
Ministers and senior officials from Saarc member-nations — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — participated in the day-long conference, Xinhua news agency reported.
Officials said the delegates discussed proposal to move from the South Asian Free Trade Area to the South Asian Economic Union, focus on customs-related trade facilitation measures, and finalising the draft on Saarc agreement on promotion and protection of investment.
Also coming up for discussion was implementation of the Saarc Agreement on Trade in Services (SATIS), avoidance of double taxation and mutual administrative assistance in tax matters and transactions in local currencies.
Sharif said that in this era of globalisation, the world focuses on finding regional solution to common problems and that for economic and social progress of the masses, increasing connectivity, ease of communication, freer trade and finding solutions to hunger, poverty and food insecurity has helped the world enhance regional and sub-regional co-operation.
He said trans-boundary effects of climate change, spread of disease, economic spill over and social evils are being countered by joint strategies at the regional level.
The prime minister said South Asia is endowed with abundant human and natural resources and that it is home to one-fifth of humanity and reservoirs of untapped wealth and under-utilised resources, which provide opportunities for development and prosperity in the region.
He said that to optimally harness this potential for peace and prosperity of the people, Saarc provides platform to work collectively to make the region free of economic constraints and social ills.
Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan is a strong advocate of stepping up regional efforts to ensure energy security by sharing indigenous sources of energy. He said that connectivity is critical to progress and prosperity of the region which is why Pakistan supports, in principle, road, air, rail and water connectivity in the region.
The prime minister also apprised the participants about economic policies being pursued by the Pakistan Government, their acknowledgement by the multilateral institutions and their ‘trickle-down’ effect.
He said that Pakistan has made progress in bringing economic stability in the country and the reforms agenda of the Government is aimed at strengthening regulatory and supervisory framework and safeguarding of the national economy.
Addressing the conference, Secretary General Saarc Arjun Bahadar Thapa said that the South Asian region has the potential to become the global economic force. He said that since the last Saarc Summit, significant progress has been made to bolster economic cooperation amongst member states.
He said the leaders of Saarc countries have set an ambitious target of establishing South Asian Economic Union which requires deeper interaction amongst member-countries. He expressed the confidence that the meeting of finance ministers will give impetus to speed up the process of South Asian Economic Union.
In his welcome address, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the South Asian region is blessed with immense resources and has the potential to meet the growth requirements of its peoples. He said that joint strategies is the way forward to exploit this potential for the socio economic uplift of the peoples.
He expressed the confidence that the vision of South Asian Economic Union will promote economic co-operation, investment and connectivity amongst the regional countries.
He said the leaders of Saarc countries have repeatedly been emphasising upon greater economic integration and co-operation. He said though significant headways have been made in this regard, however, there is need to remove non tariff barriers and the simplication of procedures in order to enhance cooperation in different sectors including trade, investment and energy cooperation. He said that such a course will help achieve our goal aimed at betterment of the region.
Ishaq Dar said Pakistan adheres to the Saarc vision to make it a successful regional organisation. He said the proposals finalised in yesterday’s meeting would be presented before the Saarc summit to be held in November in Islamabad.

“For economic and social progress of the masses, increasing connectivity, ease of communication, freer trade and finding solution to hunger, poverty and food insecurity has helped the world enhance regional and sub-regional co-operation”
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