ISLAMABAD (News Desk) – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that Pakistan is committed to jointly work along with SAARC member states to change the economic landscape of the region and to get its people out of the clutches of poverty, illiteracy and other social ills.
The Prime Minister said three decades back South Asian leaderships had made commitment to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development of our region. He said Pakistan is ready to contribute to fulfill aspirations of the people of the region.
Nawaz Sharif said in this era of globalization, the world focuses on finding regional solutions to common problems.
He said 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 cooperation.
The Prime Minister expressed the confidence that the deliberations of Finance Ministers would complement the agenda of the 19th SAARC summit, which Pakistan looks forward to host in Islamabad on 9th and 10th of November this year.
Addressing the conference, Secretary General SAARC Arjun Bahadur 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 the member states.
He said the leaders of SAARC countries have set an ambitious target of establishing the South Asian Economic Union, which requires deeper interaction amongst the member countries.
In his welcome address, 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 joint strategies are the way forward to exploit this potential for the socioeconomic uplift of our peoples.
He expressed the confidence that the vision of South Asian Economic Union will promote economic cooperation, investment and connectivity amongst the regional countries.
He said the leaders of SAARC countries have repeatedly been emphasizing upon the greater economic integration and cooperation.
He said though significant headways have been made in this regard, however, there is need to remove non-tariff barriers and simplification of procedures in order to enhance cooperation in different sectors including trade, investment and energy cooperation.
Ishaq Dar said the proposals to be finalized at today’s meeting will be presented before the SAARC summit to be held in November in Islamabad.
