ISLAMABAD: The 11-member Ministerial Conference of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) on Monday asked the multilateral lending and development agencies to mobilise more resources for post-Covid-19 economic recovery and agreed to develop a regional free trade arrangement.

“We encouraged multilateral development banks (MDBs) including Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other development partners to mobilise more resources and play an anti-cyclical role in supporting the economic recovery in the post-Covid era,” said a joint statement at the conclusion of the virtual 19th Carec Ministerial Conference.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar represented Pakistan. The ministers and senior representatives of Afghan­istan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kaza­khstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakis­­tan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkme­­nistan and Uzbekistan spoke at the conference also attended by senior representatives of ADB, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), European Bank for Reconstruction & Deve­lop­ment (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), US Agency for International Develop­ment (USAID), UN agencies, World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

The ministers welcomed the recently approved technical assistance project on free trade agreement capacity building for Carec countries, and agreed to develop a roadmap for a Carec-wide Free Trade Agreement.

The conference appreciated the progress made in the two decades of cooperation among members and noted efforts undertaken to address the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

It noted the “deterioration in the regional economic outlook due to the pandemic” and acknowledged its adverse impact on the economic and social lives of people living in the member countries. “The importance of regional cooperation has been reinforced by these challenges”, said the joint statement stressing the need for developing new initiatives to mitigate the impact of this crisis.

The members reaffirmed their commitment to regional cooperation to address these new challenges and maintain industrial output and supply chains. They also renewed their commitment to implementing the Carec 2030 Strategy and endorsed the Carec Gender Strategy (CGS) 2030, the Carec Tourism Strategy (CTS) 2030, Carec 2030 Programme Results Framework to further development objectives through regional cooperation.

The members noted the joint-work currently underway at ADB and Carec Institute to find solutions for the challenge of finding sufficient access to trade finance felt by Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and female- owned enterprises.

On tourism, the conference welcomed the Carec Tourism Strategy 2030 and appreciated its strategic vision and focus on promoting safe and sustainable regional tourism destinations, while covering key issues of connectivity and infrastructure, quality and standards, skills development, marketing, and market intelligence. We also welcomed the regional tourism investment framework which will complement the CTS 2030 and elaborate upon the projects to be implemented over 2021-25.

On transport, the ministers welcomed the approval of a technical assistance project for the preparation of Carec Regional Infrastructure Projects Enabling Facility and called for continued progress in connectivity and cross-border services improvement projects, as well as in promoting sustainable regional cooperation of transportation despite the bottlenecks caused by the pandemic.

The conference also appreciated the progress in implementation of the Carec Energy Strategy 2030 and on Carec’s large portfolio of regional energy trade projects. It felt the need for technical assistance and capacity building initiatives, including on establishment of a new regional transmission cooperation association, promotion of market reforms, establishment of a financing vehicle for green energy projects, development of a Carec Energy Outlook and a women-in-energy programme.

The members noted the completion of the scoping study on Carec regional health cooperation that will aid Carec countries in addressing public health threats, including pandemics, and lead to the preparation of a Carec regional health strategy, and an investment framework for 2022-26. The members felt the need for a crosscutting initiative in information technology with the approval of an ADB-financed technical assistance to prepare a technology vision and a digital strategy, integrate ICT in the five operational clusters and assess methods to develop a regional startup ecosystem.

Bakhtyar told the participants that tourism was part of Pakistan’s national development policy as the sector contained immense untapped potential. He suggested the development of regional tourism corridor, establishment of Carec Business Council and increased involvement of the private sector in promoting tourism. He also suggested enhanced visa facilitation regime in the form of “Carec Sticker” for certain categories within the region.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2020