ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has called for closer economic integration among the D-8 member countries, stressing the need to create an enabling environment with strong public-private partnership to achieve the collective goal of economic development.
Addressing the ‘Business Forum’ held on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit here on Tuesday, the prime minister said the current dynamism and diversity in economic relationship reflected a firm commitment to build a broad spectrum of trade and investment activities.
The forum was organised by the Board of Investment and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“Sages of all hues have concluded that government is the enabler but the doer is the private entrepreneur,” remarked the prime minister.
He said that implementation of free trade policies in the recent past emphasised the importance of economic integration. “Trade agreements, trade diplomacy, and greater role of private sector are shaping up our economic trajectory,” he added.
He assured the public and private sectors of D-8 countries that Pakistan is stable and its economic policies are transparent and predictable.
“Expatriate Pakistanis are bringing their capital back home as the country’s credit rating on international capital markets hasimproved in the last few years,” he asserted.
According to him, Pakistan’s strategic and geographic location as an international corridor provides huge opportunities for investment and trade in profitable sectors. The unexplored economic potential of Pakistan offers countless developmental, trade and industrialisation opportunities for the business community.
He said foreign investors seeking a competitive manufacturing environment, healthy returns and skilled human resource in a growing market, can tap the vast opportunities available in the country.
The prime minister said that the bilateral trade and investment among D-8 member countries is yet to reach its full potential by pinning much hope for expansion in trade and investment with the Preferential Trade Agreement (FTA) entering into force which is a significant milestone towards economic integration among the D-8 countries.
Recommendations
The forum also formulated comprehensive recommendations to fully utilise the unexplored investment and business opportunities in potential areas of energy and alternate energy, agro-based industries, textiles and infrastructure development.
These recommendations will now be discussed and finalised by the Council of Ministers of D-8 countries at their meeting on Wednesday for presentation to the Summit meeting.
Though the recommendations were not released, it is learnt that the delegate of Iran has proposed that all the D-8 countries should use local currency in intra-D-8 trade instead of dollars.
This was the first forum where public and private sectors interacted face-to-face for their investment and business interests. The forum provided the opportunity for the delegates to explore cooperation in the areas of power generation, oil and gas development, agro-based industries, textiles and small and medium enterprises.
During the forum, Secretary Board of Investment Anjum Bashir explained the investment opportunities available in Pakistan.
Since its inception, trade volume of the D-8 member countries has increased from $433 million in 1997 to $1.725 trillion in 2011. However, the intra-D-8 trade was $130 billion in 2011, which was 7.5 per cent of the total trade of D-8 trade bloc.
The outgoing chairman of the D-8 FCCI of Nigeria, Dr Herbert Ademola presented progress report on the activities of the federation over the past two years.
He called for strengthening of transport infrastructure to help expand trade and investment relations particularly developing shipping service. He called for early implementation of FTA to expand trade and economic relations.
Assuming the chairmanship of D-8 FCCI, President of Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Fazal Kadir Khan Sherani stated that D-8 member countries would have to concentrate to exploit the existing opportunities available in dynamic and prolific manners since the world trade has been going under dramatic changes.
He suggested a joint stance on WTO issues and establishment of joint investment company within the member states which could identify potential sectors of mutual interest.