Free trade key to poverty reduction, peace in South Asia: FPCCI

Lahore: 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.

Increased regional cooperation and trade liberalization are necessary for addressing problems like poverty and unemployment through development, said Abdul Rauf Alam, President FPCCI.

He said this while speaking to a reception hosted in honour of President Saarc Chamber of Commerce Suraj Vaidya. VP Saarc Chamber Iftikhar Ali Malik, incumbent and former officials of Saarc Chamber, FPCCI, ICCI, RCCI, Ambassadors and government officials were also present on the occasion.

Rauf Alam said that we should resolve all controversial issues through negotiations as soon as possible otherwise all efforts to ensure development and bring people closer will be an exercise in futility.

How goods can move freely in a 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 will 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 trade creation, stimulate competition, attract capital inflows, and encourage transfer of technology, he noted.

The president FPCCI said that liberalization 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 cost of doing business among Saarc nations is extremely expensive which must be brought down while we should also have a Saarc industrials parks and Saarc CEOs forum.

Speaking at the occasion, President Saarc Chamber Suraj Vaidya, VP Iftikhar Ali Malik and others said that Saarc is dormant since decades, it has yet to achieve shared goal of  reduction in poverty which is the most important and common problem of the member states.

They 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.

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