CPEC spillover to benefit entire region: PM

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan is committed to promoting economic and social development through regional cooperation. He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will go beyond bilateral initiatives and lead to uplift and economic development of the whole region.

He was delivering a keynote address at the 15th meeting of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan firmly believed that through regional cooperation much better results can be achieved in the fight against poverty.

The prime minister appreciated the progress so far achieved by CAREC, and proposed several measures to boost regional cooperation.

He called for the establishment of a pool of experts drawn from finance, banking, capital market, energy, transport, and trade and infrastructure sectors. This pool of experts should be open not only to government but also to businesses, industry, non-government organisations, researchers and academia.

This will result in the intra-regional transfer of knowledge and multi-dimensional benefit for all.

The PM offered to share Pakistan’s expertise in the stock market to other member countries of CAREC.

He said current Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan was serving a few members of CAREC on a bilateral basis. This should be brought under the regional umbrella to cover all member states under Aviation and Open Skies agreement, he said.

PM Sharif said Pakistan’s focus on energy, economic revival and stabilisation has resulted in remarkable and impressive economic growth. He said, “Our transport and construction related activities will gain further momentum on the back of infrastructure and power sector development programme under CPEC.”

The prime minister said Pakistan believes CAREC is a premier organisation with a clear and cohesive vision of promoting cooperation among member countries in the areas of mutual interest.

Addressing the meeting, Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao noted that CAREC programme has launched 174 projects worth 28.9 billion dollars since its establishment in 2001.

He said CAREC programme is advancing regional cooperation and there have been major achievements in transport, connectivity and trade facilitation.