Minister for Commerce and Textile of Pakistan Pervaiz Malik had visited Moscow from 13 to 16 November 2017 to attend the 16th Meeting of Ministers of SCO Member States responsible for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade Activity. He was accompanied by MNA Ms Shaista Malik and two officials of the Ministry of Commerce. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Commerce and Trade of the eight members of the SCO as well as Observers.
The ministers deliberated on the topic of "Current situation and prospects for further development of multilateral trade, economic and investment cooperation in the region of SCO". In his statement made at the meeting, the Minister for Commerce and Textile highlighted the following: i. Pakistan will work proactively with fellow SCO-member states to realize the goals and objectives this forum in keeping with the SCO Charter and the 'Shanghai Spirit' of mutual trust, mutual respect, deference to cultural diversity and shared development. ii. Pakistan looked forward to advancing the overarching goals of SCO to strengthen political, economic and trade relations between the member states and promoting regional peace, security and stability. iii.
Pakistan is a natural SCO partner, ideally located to provide links for regional economic integration within and between SCO member states. iv. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is in step with SCO's efforts to create trans-continental overland connectivity resulting in stronger regional economic integration. v. Pakistan is partnering in a number of key regional energy and infrastructure initiatives including Turkmenistan-Afghanistan, Pakistan-India (TAPI) and CASA-1000. Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to initiate a bus service that would not only enhance trade but also be an important tool to promote people-to-people contacts between the four countries. vi.
In line with the vision of the present government of shared prosperity through connectivity, Pakistan has undertaken several initiatives which include rebooting of Quadrilateral Agreement for Traffic in Transit (QTTA) between China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, which is also being joined by Tajikistan. The QTTA serves as conduit to regional connectivity and would become even more effective with our membership of SCO. vii. Pakistan's strategic aim is to utilize its unique geo-political position and economic capital to build trade, energy and communications corridors linking South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and China. viii. The Government of Pakistan is working on domestic reforms that would help in promoting regional trade and connectivity. The initiatives include establishment of the National Single Window to expedite trade clearance, aggressive implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement and tariff rationalization to improve further our competitiveness and reduce the cost of doing business.
The Minister expressed support for a regional free trade agreement under SCO, with a view to opening up partnership opportunities for the whole region. He underscored that a trade led growth in the region would play a key role in bringing economic prosperity, employment and sustainable development. On the sidelines of the Ministerial meeting in Moscow, Pervaiz Malik had a bilateral meeting with Minister for Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Denis Manturov, who is also the Co-Chair of Pakistan-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation. The two Ministers expressed satisfaction at the upward trajectory of bilateral relations and expressed interest in further strengthening cooperation in all fields of mutual interest including trade, energy, defense and culture.-PR
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