"The 10-storey new building of the SAARC Chamber headquarters in Islamabad would provide opportunity of meetings between businessmen of the members countries to discuss prospects of business."
President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ruwan Edirisinghe stated this while talking to media prior to his departure to Sri Lanka after concluding his two-day visit to Pakistan.
"I am much sanguine about the future of the SAARC Chamber and said we will have to underwrite the creation of regional public goods for South Asians to integrate sitting here from chamber permanent headquarter," he added.
We can utilize this capacious building for launching pad of optimal utilization of the region's natural resources, building regional infrastructure, creating connectivity within the region and with the world - with energy grids, cross-border transport networks, coastal shipping, air links, roads, railways and waterways, besides flood and other natural disaster mitigation and prevention measures, he said.
Ruwan Edirisinghe highlighted that although SAARC region holds immense trade and investment potential, being home to 21 percent of the world's population, it still remains one of the least integrated regional blocs with intra-regional trade constituting only 5 percent of the total world trade, in comparison to 51 percent for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and 25 percent for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He said SAARC member countries must focus on removal of non-tariff barriers and must work for enhancing B2B interaction to boost trade.
Chairman Building Committee SAARC CCI Senior Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik on this occasion said SAARC CCI building is almost completed and only finishing work is underway under the supervision of high profile internationally accredited architects and designers.
He said the government of Pakistan and magnates have contributed 90 percent of the total of the cost of this project.
He also reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to regional cooperation under the umbrella of SAARC for promoting welfare of the people of South Asia, improving their quality of life, economic progress, social uplift and cultural cooperation. He said social-political dialogues among the member states were indispensable for unleashing socio-economic potential of South Asia.
The government and private sector should join hands for integration of the region. If all tangible steps were taken, only furniture market in the region would reach a colossal figure of $5.4 billion by 2020.
"Remedial measures may push the regional trade to as high as $170 billion within two years," he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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