Pakistan is uniquely placed geographically at the confluence of South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and Western China. By virtue of its geostrategic location at the crossroads of the mentioned sub-regions, Pakistan offers the most economical trade routes from these sub-regions to the Arabian Sea and beyond.
Pakistan can also serve as an energy corridor for the flow of oil and gas from the energy rich Central Asian States and Gulf States to the energy deficient countries in this region. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), TAPI and CASA-1000 are practical manifestations of this vision.
There is a growing trend of connectivity among various sub-regions as much as its requirement bilaterally, which afford opportunities for investments, intraregional trade and infrastructure development. The ECO region is experiencing similar transformation in terms of development of bilateral and sub-regional connectivity initiatives. However, ECO region is peculiar in the sense that there was a dire requirement for establishment of regional transit arrangements as the region comprises landlocked states of Central Asia and Afghanistan, which are dependent on their neighbours for transit. These arrangements are important means of overcoming obstacles to competitiveness. The Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation (CAREC) is a case in point. The six CAREC corridors link the region's key economic hubs to each other, and connect the landlocked CAREC countries to other Eurasian and global markets. And, of late, the initiative of CPEC, the flagship project of Chinese President, Xi Jinping's envisioned 'One Belt One Road's land, sea and air connectivity initiative, which envisages linking Asia to Europe and onward to Africa, would turn the corner and spur economic activities of immeasurable magnitude. Pakistan's ability to provide alternative route to connect CAREC states to the outside world through most economic means should not be seen from the perspective of competition but as complementing the existing routes under CAREC and a much needed piece to complete the jigsaw puzzle of regional connectivity, which can be best understood through the two illustrations:
The 13th ECO Summit is taking place at a most opportune time in this backdrop.
The Theme of this Summit is "Connectivity for Regional Prosperity". The Summit will deliberate and decide on ways and means to augment co-operation in the areas of connectivity, trade, energy, tourism, investment, industry, economic growth, productivity, social welfare and environment. The Islamabad Declaration would focus on the Summit theme of Connectivity as a dynamic concept that encompasses multiple dimensions including transit transport such as rail, road, ports and shipping and Cyber linkages. The Summit would act as a Catalyst to integrate these initiatives into a comprehensive connectivity apparatus of the ECO.
Three long-term sectoral priorities of the Organisation are: (1) Development of transport and communication infrastructure; (2) Facilitation of trade and investment; and (3) Effective use of the region's vast energy resources. Pakistan believes that ECO has the collective strength to rise as productive economic bloc. The theme of the Summit envisages fostering road, rail, air, energy, cyber and knowledge based connectivity.
The Summit aims at identifying new areas of co-operation besides cementing the progress on matters currently under process. A successful and active ECO can serve the interests of all member states. Adoption of ECO Vision 2025 that lays tangible goals for ECO is another major milestone for the organisation. The ECO Vision 2025 envisages that ECO will become a territory of integrated and sustainable economies as well as free trade area achieved by highly educated societies and improved governance through enhanced co-operation.
The Summit would provide a platform to ECO Member states to enhance regional integration through preferential tariffs, activation of established ECO institutions and finalising an effective transport strategy aiming to boost cross-border connectivity, enhancing trade and strengthening regional economic co-operation in the region. Given the collective population of almost half a billion, land mass double the size of the Europe, human capital and appetite for development, ECO holds great potential to serve as an engine of growth not only for Asia but also the World, at large.
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