SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik on Wednesday said that in the prevailing global economic scenario, it is need of the hour that SAARC member states should craft new self-regulating trade strategies to withstand the shocks in wake of trade war ensued between the United States and China that could badly hit the development growth in the region.
Talking to a delegation of traders from Nepal led by Rajendra Dev Acharya, here on Wednesday, he said the brewing trade war between the US and China has raised concerns about potential fallout for South Asian and East Asia's economies, many of which count China as their main trading partner. "This kind of practice or policy, which is bad for both sides, is not going to serve their interests, or the world economy," he said adding the US and China should seek a resolution to their trade disputes through the World Trade Organization.
"Harmful restrictions could follow with regard to flows of people, investment, aid and information. Cooperation on international rules and institutions could be set back. Such a scenario must not be allowed to unfold," he added. He further said South Asia is expected to grow to 7 percent in 2018 and 7.2 percent in 2019 after two years of decline. He said the region could withstand most shocks from US President Donald Trump's protectionist policies, but the growing trade frictions between the world's two biggest economies could dampen Asia's growth prospects.
He said a trade war could also damage Beijing's aspirations of doubling gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020 compared to 2010 levels, since any fall in US exports could weigh on China's economic growth and if this trade escalates further, it would be hard to become Asia the largest economy in the world by 2050 as predicted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), a multinational professional services network headquartered in London and considered among the "Big Four" auditors.
Malik said according to PwC, by 2050, China will be the world's largest economy, followed by India, and the US in third place while Pakistan will attain 16th position in the world economy and this goal is possible when we have efficient trade policies to cope with the world challenges especially when US and China, the largest economy of the world, are at loggerheads and posing risks to the global economic recovery.
He said South Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, with average gross domestic product (GDP) growth projected to be 7 percent in 2017 and well above 8 percent by 2020. He further said the region's GDP projections are rosy for the next five years; this promising scenario may not be sustained over the longer term if South Asian countries fail to exploit the unique opportunities available to them in their region.
SAARC CCI vice president said Pakistan would become 16th largest economy overtaking Canada and Italy economy $4.2 trillion from current 28th place while India would overtake America to become top 2 economies from its 4th position with $44.12 trillion. To attain the economic targets, first of all both India and Pakistan should build their mutual relation on the basis of trade and economy and must be away from violence and war, he said.
"We should not talk about negative and positive lists rather we should work on the windows of opportunities," he maintained. He said there is no better way of improving bilateral relations than mutually beneficial economic ties. He said that both Pakistan and India needed to take more steps to remove Non-Tariff Barriers that were a major impediment to bilateral trade relations.
He said that at present over $5 billion trade is being done through third country. He said that removal of non-tariff barriers, liberalization of visa and normalization of mutual relation can bring the two-way trade to the height of $30 billion. A group of Nepalese students from Punjab University led by Sanskriti was also present on the occasion.
Comments
Comments are closed.