News
Monday, June 24, 2013
‘Govt promoting intra-SAARC trade through connectivity’* Minister says ferry service between Karachi, Gujarat ports under consideration
* Trade liberalisation to boost economic ties, ensure lasting peace
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Senator Kamran Michael has said that the government is promoting intra-regional trade through confidence-building measures, liberalisation, and improved connectivity.
“The strategy will unlock growth potential of the region marred by the lowest level of intra-regional trade in the world,” he said at a reception jointly organised by SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Friends of Pakistan Forum. Speaking on the occasion, Michael said the only way to bring billions of people out of poverty was enhanced regional trade, for which fully equipped ports were imperative.
He said that around a quarter of the world’s population lives in SAARC countries, but “we produce less than two percent of the global GDP due to political conflicts and lack of sufficient competencies and capacities”.
“We need expansion of regional production networks, integration in the global economy, foreign direct investment, removal of trade and investment barriers, and heightened demand, for which we need to improve infrastructure,” he said.
He said that integration of trade between Pakistan and India had made some progress, but it remained limited due to trade barriers and insufficient regional cooperation, “which is now being tackled on a fast pace”.
Michael said that the government was seriously considering launching a ferry service between ports of Karachi and Gujarat. “The ferry service between the two parts of the world continued in ancient times, it peaked during the British Raj and ended in 1965.”
SAARC Chamber VP Iftikhar Ali Malik informed the minister about the congestion on ports, which was hurting the imports and exports, and demanded deepening of the ports so that comparatively larger cargo ships could be anchored there. “The container terminals are going to face acute congestion if no timely expansion in the existing facilities are done or new terminals are developed,” said former FPCCI VP Zubair Tufail.
FPPCI Committee on Ports and Shipping Chairman Tariq Haleem said that under the present competitive world market, the country’s exports and imports were getting costlier and uncompetitive against the regional countries. inp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk