ISLAMABAD: A three-day international conference on sustainable development opened here on Tuesday. The conference is being attended by representatives from more than 16 South Asian countries and over 50 international experts.

The conference was meant to find ways to rid people of the region and beyond from problems they face and attain sustainable development, peace and prosperity.

The conference was organised the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) of Pakistan. The theme of the conference was “Pathways to sustainable development in South Asia and beyond” here on Tuesday. The conference will continue till Thursday.

President Mamnoon Hussain was the chief guest. Other dignitaries attending the conference were Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal and UN Under-Secretary General for Regional Economic and Social Commission of Asia and Pacific region Dr Shamshad Akhtar.

A number of top development practitioners, policy experts, academics, researchers, economists, and policymakers from inside and outside the country, especially from the South Asia, attended the conference.

Speaking on the occasion, President Mamnoon emphasized the need for undertaking concerted initiatives to enhance mutual cooperation and integration among South Asian countries to attain the goal of sustainable development, peace and prosperity in the region.

“Closer regional collaboration and integration will help achieve the shared vision of a peaceful, prosperous and developed region,” the president said.

“I would like to urge upon all leaders and experts assembled here to deeply analyse the Kathmandu Declaration in which our political leaders have committed themselves to moving towards a more integrated region and establishing an economic community to pull millions of people out of poverty, deprivation and vulnerability.

“Your independent research and advice on workable solutions to your respective governments and the Saarc Secretariat will help achieve the shared goal of a peaceful, prosperous and developed region,” the president said.

Addressing the conference, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said that unprecedented challenges required unprecedented regional collaboration and efforts to address common regional challenges.

The minister stressed the need for bridging the gap between knowing and doing (knowledge and practice), with a pro-poor strategy.

“South Asian countries have the economic indicators of middle income but social indicators of under-developed countries,” he said.

“We live in an era of unprecedented change and paradigm shifts, which require unprecedented collaboration,” the minister said.

Dr Shamshad Akhtar said that rising greenhouse gas emissions was a serious threat to the health of people in South Asia and suggested that low carbon sustainable technologies must be applied for sustainable development in the region.

“$10 billion has been allocated through a Green Climate Fund of the UN to promote Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),” she said, adding that every dollar spent on sanitation could help a government save $5 on health expenditure.

Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, the Executive Director of the SDPI, said recent fast emerging multi-party democracies in a majority of South Asian countries had led to formation of new elected governments, though their respective opposition groups had cast doubts about the electoral transparency.

“But one thing is clear that once governments are elected through a voting process (despite allegations of malpractices by their respected opponents), they have certainly to think about their people and their development,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2014