KARACHI, Nov 28: There is a need to improve governance in South Asia to help make it a vibrant and dynamic region. This was stated by Economic Adviser to the Federal Ministry of Finance Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan while speaking at an international seminar in a hotel here on Tuesday.

The two-day moot on ‘Globalisation: Economic, Social and Political Dimensions; Focus on South Asia’ is being held under the auspices of the Area Study Centre for Europe (ASCE), University of Karachi, in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Islamabad.

Dr Khan said it was a stark reality that globalisation had brought profound economic and social changes over the last two decades. Asia in particular had benefited from it.

He said more than two decades of sustained economic growth, particularly in East Asia, had raised the living standards of more people, more rapidly than any other time in history.

The economic adviser said globalisation “brings opportunities as well as poses serious challenges to the nations.

“Countries gain access to larger markets, more sophisticated technology and a wider variety of goods and services at lower cost. But globalisation also entails risks.”

Dr Khan also pointed out that economic and social transformation had taken place in Asia, particularly in South Asia, at an unprecedented pace. He said the people in East Asia were richer and more educated now than 35 years ago. Economic growth had driven this transformation.—APP