ISLAMABAD, July 27: Speakers at a seminar called for enhancing linkages between trade, development and poverty reduction as well as equitable distribution of income.

They observed that uneven and unjust trade across the world was among one of the causes of growing poverty in South, which subsequently hampers development. These views were expressed at a seminar organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in partnership with CUTS.

Speaking on the occasion Director of Centre for Research on Poverty Reduction Dr Sajjad Akhtar argued that no great structural transformation took place in the agriculture sector during the last years. Due to this food imports were constantly on rise.

He said there had been no real diversification in Pakistan’s exports. The data available reveals that in labour intensive sectors, employment losses have been almost as great as whatever employment gains were made.

Acting executive director SDPI Dr Abid Suleri said poverty reduction should be linked to the equitable distribution of income without which economic growth cannot provide relief to the marginalised and neglected sections of the society.

He called for a big change in the mindset of the wizards who consider investing in people as wastage of resources.

Former vice-president FPCCI Engineer Jabbar said the government should come up with a broad-based industrial policy to promote establishment of the export-led industries in the country. He agreed with a questioner that the current industrial policy only focused on automobiles and textile sector.

Mr Jabbar questioned the credibility of the government’s statistics regarding macro-economic indicators. He said that there was a need for a reliable source of data collection so that policy could be formulated in a better way.

Chief WTO wing of the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) Dr Syed Wajid Pirzada said that the trade development could contribute substantially towards development in general and towards poverty alleviation in particular.

He, however, observed that trade was a means in this regard and not an end in itself. There could be negative fallouts in the short run for the poor and the marginalised and compensatory policies and effective social safety net could help address those problems. Such negative effects, he felt, were less pronounced in societies based on equality compared to uneven societies.

An economist from PIDE, Ali Kamal said that there had been no significant rise in investment in Pakistan. He criticised the pro-banking policy of the government that was not pro-poor. He also pointed out that although official figures might reflect a decline in unemployment, but this may just be because the latest survey accounts for the unpaid domestic women workers.

He suggested that in order to achieve a sustainable growth rate, Pakistan must curb inflation, promote investment and capital accumulation.

Zubair Abbasi of the UNDP said the trade policy was considered to be a reflection of social policy of any country. The policy has to be created within an integrated framework.