FRANKFURT: Leaders of developing Asian countries today are preoccupied with the need to achieve and sustain the growth rate to respond to the needs and economic aspirations of their people.

Economists have warned, however, that getting too ambitious could backfire and have suggested a realistic roadmap for pan Asia cooperation, along the same lines as the European Union (EU) experience.

Dismissing the possibility of a monetary or currency union in the foreseeable future in Asia, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said that the foremost need for Asia was political stability and peace to deepen reforms and capitalise on linkages in the region and the world beyond.

“Asia needs to deepen its reforms. We can also learn from EU about the regulatory regime and harmonisation of mechanism to promote trade,” he said, while speaking at a panel discussion on closer cooperation between Asia and Europe on the second day of the 49th annual Asian Development Bank meeting.

Experts from Germany, EU, Japan, China and the IMF discussed the spill-over effects of the slowdown in China and the depressed global growth on Asia and possible options for dealing with the challenges.

Resilient economies: At the first business session of the annual meeting, 27 Governors of the ADB reiterated their resolve and support for the bank’s efforts to bridge physical infrastructure gaps and work towards inclusive development on the agenda of climate change in Asia.

In his speech, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar reminded the audience of “a consummate resilience” that Asian-Pacific nations have shown in the face of global headwinds.

“Developing Asia is projected to grow at 5.7pc in both 2016 and 2017, down moderately from the 5.9pc registered in 2015. While the projection is good, this does not allow us to be complacent as there are internal and external challenges in the shape of global headwinds and moderating growth in the People’s Republic of China,” he said, reading from the written script.

“Pakistan’s economy has continued to demonstrate resilience to cope with security challenges, continuing war against terrorism and the lingering impact of consistent floods resulting from climate change,” he read.

TAPI: The flagship project of regional cooperation that enjoys ADB patronage — the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline — is off the ground in the gas-rich Eurasian country. The bank expects it to be completed in the first year of the next decade.

“If things go as planned, we hope to complete the design work and route details in restive Afghanistan over the next two years after which extending the pipeline to Pakistan would be easy. It will take two years at least to complete the construction work on the pipeline. We are hoping to surmount all kinds of challenges with the help of local communities to get it ready to start transmission of gas by 2021,” ADB’s Director General for Central and West Asia Sean M O’ Sullivan told reporters during a briefing on the sidelines of the annual meeting on Wednesday.

He admitted to the growing interest in Pakistan that is already receiving an average of $1.2bn annually. “As the pie of pool of investible funds in ADB expands, the flows to Pakistan can jack up to $2 billion per annum. “We have earmarked $150 million for Pakistan’s energy sector development programme which will go for board approval before the end of this calendar year. This is in addition to the $300m loan programme for restructuring and commercialising state-owned enterprises (SOEs) including the railways. This will hopefully be approved next month (June 16) by the board,” he said.

Responding to a question on the viability of TAPI and other projects in Afghanistan, he said if local communities were involved and perceived it to be economically gainful, they would shield it. “People are waiting for economic opportunities to open up,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2016