President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ruwan Edirisinghe will arrive in Pakistan today on two-day visit to hold meetings with the SAARC CCI headquarters building committee besides meeting with local business community and the government officials to accelerate the efforts of the SAARC chamber in promoting economic, trade and investment linkages across the region.
SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik, who is also Chairman Building Committee, talking to media on Monday said that Ruwan, a leading industrialist and investor from Sri Lanka, is due to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday where he will meet the business community and hold important meeting with SAARC CCI headquarters building committee to evaluate the construction work of the building.
He said 95 percent structure of the building has been completed under the supervision of high profile internationally accredited architects and designers. He said the government of Pakistan and magnates have contributed over 80 percent of the total of the cost of the project valued at more than rupees one billion. He hoped that it will be completed before the end of current calendar.
He said during his stay Ruwan is likely to meet important government officials and trade leaders. He said his focus will continue to prioritize better connectivity and establishment of SAARC industrial parks for better investment facilitation.
He said there is a dire need to utilize this platform to bring prosperity in the region. "If we utilize our potential in its true order, our region could make higher pace of development within next decade, although currently it is lagging behind in terms of development," he added.
The private sector of the region is committed to the socioeconomic integration of South Asia, he said, adding that the business community of the region believes in harmony and advocates regional economic integration to address the major challenges the region faces, including job creation and poverty.
Malik said the South Asian cooperation faces multiple challenges as this constitutes the world's second least developed region after Sub-Saharan Africa and its per capita GDP, in terms of purchasing power parity, is three times below the global average while it has more poor people than the rest of the world.
Despite this, he said, the SAARC region holds immense trade and investment potential and to actualize that potential special focus and effort is required for regional integration. He said the SAARC member countries must focus on removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and must work for enhancing B2B interaction to boost trade.
He said SAARC CCI President Ruwan Edirising could play an important role as catalyst to bring all the member states together and ensure timely and effective implementation of programme and activities that would benefit the region.