Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Saturday said free trade is the only key to reduce poverty in South Asia without which social unrest and militancy cannot be controlled.

While speaking at a reception, hosted in the honour of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Suraj Vaidya, he said increased regional cooperation and trade liberalisation are necessary for addressing problems like poverty and unemployment, FPCCI President said Abdul Rauf Alam.

SAARC CCI VP Iftikhar Ali Malik, representatives of FPCCI, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), ambassadors and government officials were also present on the occasion.

Rauf Alam said that the SAARC members should resolve all controversial issues through negotiations as soon as possible otherwise all efforts to ensure development and harmony among people would be an exercise in futility.

How can goods move freely in the least integrated region where people are not allowed to move freely, he asked. “We can achieve the overall goals of rapid trade integration, economic growth, and poverty reduction by removing visa restrictions in the first place, which would have a positive impact on 1.5 billion lives,” he said.

Pakistan and India are two major powers in South Asia that can become instruments for trading, stimulating competition, attracting capital inflows, and encouraging transfer of technology, he noted.

The FPCCI president said that liberalisation of trade is expected to open new avenues for economic cooperation in energy supply, hydel electric generation and distribution, shipping, banking, insurance, and overland transport etc.

Presently, the cost of doing business among SAARC nations is extremely expensive and must be brought down while we should also establish SAARC industrials parks and SAARC forum for CEOs.

Speaking on the occasion, SAARC CCI President Suraj Vaidya said that SAARC is dormant for decades, it has yet to achieve shared goal of reduction in poverty, which is the most important and common problem of the member states.

He asked the policymakers to learn lessons from integration of other blocks like EU and ASEAN that are more focused on trade and less on politics.

“SAARC CCI has failed to improve the lives of the nearly 1.5 billion South Asians since it was set up in 1985 in order to boost trade and cooperation, but the business community is hopeful and would continue to push for development through improved relations between different nations sharing cultural, religious, political and socioeconomic values,” he opined.