Pakistan wants a meaningful engagement with India to resolve all outstanding bilateral disputes, so that both the countries could work for sustainable economic growth, said federal Minister for Commerce and Industry Engineer Khurram Dastagir Khan. "The government is aiming at having more openings with India and this will connect Pakistan with the region, said the federal minister while addressing a conference organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
"We have normalised the trade regime with India, and shifting from positive list to negative list," the minister said, adding that this also includes improving infrastructure at Wagah, Torkhum and Chaman borders. The country has set to achieve its target of an additional one billion dollars of exports to the European Union after getting Generalized System of Preferences Plus status, the minister added.
Dastgir Khan said integrated regional connectivity and boosting regional trade are vital for economic growth and stability. Import of electricity from Central Asia by CASA-1000 project would open new avenues of regional trade. He said boosting trade linkages with the new Afghan government would help increase Pakistan's exports to Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries. He further said that despite some difficulties, South Asia with democracies in place is entering into a new era of development and prosperity. Democratic South Asia itself is a welcome sign for regional co-operation, he added.
The minister said regional level agreement on energy trade and signing of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kirghizstan agreement on electricity supply will connect the region with a grid leading to further regional development.
Former Finance Minister Dr Hafiz Pasha on Thursday highlighted distortions in the taxation system with a vary narrow base of 700,000 people filing tax returns, whereas total amount of tax exemptions stood at around Rs 900 billion. He also criticised tax system saying only 700,000 people are filing tax returns, whereas a few years back the figure was one million. "Unemployment in the country actually reached 12 per cent and three million people are entering the poverty bracket every year," said Pasha.
Pasha said that in the current scenario Pakistan has no option but to follow the path of inclusive growth and sustainable development. "Food inflation and the rising prices of flour, which have actually risen by 50% in real terms over the last few years, are the issues which need immediate attention of the government," Pasha added. He lamented that the real household income of top 20% went up by 40%, whereas the income of the people belonging to lowest 20% have only risen by 6%.
"As it was assumed that over the generations the land distribution would have improved, which actually did not happen, and now the top 1% land holders have 20% of this country's land," Pasha maintained. He said lending facilities have worsened, and currently 86% of the credit goes to 1% of the big borrowers. While criticising the PSDP allocations in the country, he said it is an irony that this year only 30% of the budget was allocated for Water and Energy whereas the budget for highways has been doubled. We can live without highways, but we cannot make progress without electricity.
Given that prices have fallen in the international market, Pakistan wheat, sugar, and electricity prices have risen. In order to improve the governance issues, he recommended that local government elections should be held immediately, secondly SROs should be removed and more PSDP allocations be made for water and energy, and thirdly, the government should encourage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
Dr Rasheed Al Mahmud Titmur, University of Dhaka, said that non-engagement and non-alliance at regional level could not prove to be beneficial for all the countries and now it is time to move towards regional co-operation. He added that 50% labour is under-utilised in South Asia. "Policies like liberalisation and privatisation have also failed in the region therefore; all the countries really need to revisit them.
Dr Abid Qayum Suleri, SDPI Executive Director said that as we have graduated from MDGs to SDGs, independent researchers and academia must rise up to the challenge and provide evidence based policy advice to national, regional and global governance forums. The move towards SDGs should envision a more responsible role of a democratic state, he added. "However, this pursuit is not possible without an active support from the communities." He stressed the need for local government reforms to pave way for social accountability mechanisms, which can be exercised by the communities for demanding improved public service delivery.
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