CAREC conference kicks off in Islamabad

Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) meeting to discuss energy, transport, and trade

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan will host the two-day Ministerial Conference of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) countries, in which regional issues like transport, energy, trade facilitation, and trade policy will be discussed here on October 25. The is being jointly hosted by the government of Pakistan in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and will be attended by Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Georgia as an observer. More than 200 participants from 10 member countries and multilateral development partners will attend the event. On the first day of event, CAREC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) will be held. Economic Affairs Division and National Focal Point Additional Secretary Anjum Assad Amin will co-chair the SOM. National Focal Points and representatives from trade, transport and energy sectors from the member countries will participate in the SOM. During the SOM, key deliverables in the four priority sectors of CAREC, transport, energy, trade facilitation, and trade policy will be presented. The draft report of midterm review of CAREC 2020 will also be presented. On the second day, the ministerial conference will be inaugurated by the prime minister of Pakistan and co-chaired by the finance minister and ADB president. The representative of IMF will present the global economic outlook and its implications on the CAREC countries. The multilateral and bilateral development partners will share their input. CAREC ministers will consider the draft of joint ministerial statement with a view to finalising and endorsing. Upon endorsement, a representative from the Georgian government will make a statement as a new CAREC member. Multilateral and bilateral development partners like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank (WB); representatives from CAREC Institute, Department for International Development, Deutsche Gesellschaftfuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), European Union, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BmZ), Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan International Cooperation Agency, the US Department of State, United States Agency for International Development, and World Trade Organisation will also attend the meeting.