UNITED NATIONS: Terming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) an “inspiring model” of South-South Cooperation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday that cooperation among developing countries played a significant role in promoting development and prosperity in the region.

Addressing a high-level Roundtable on South-South Cooperation (SSC), co-chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the prime minister said the CPEC would bring huge economic and development benefits not only to Pakistan and China but also the entire region and beyond.

Also read: CPEC to benefit entire region, say analysts

He said the project formed an important component of President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative.

“We greatly admire the vision underlying this initiative,” he said, adding that this development strategy and framework offered new opportunities for Asia’s transformation and prosperity.

Pakistan, Mr Sharif said, considered the SSC in trade, investment, human resource development, technology and financial resource generation in its interest.

He said further strengthening of institutional support from the UN system would help maximise the impact of SSC, as such an approach would help sustain development efforts and ensure enhanced participation of developing countries in the global economy, in conformity with the new agenda.

The roundtable was held on the margins of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit and the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Prime Minister Sharif said business and private sectors also had an important role in promoting economic opportunities, innovation and high impact solutions. Pakistan, he said, was also extending training and technical support to developing countries in a number of fields.

He said Pakistan’s Specialised Technical Assistance Programme for Africa dated back to 1986 and it was an institutionalised and fully funded programme. He said the Foreign Service Academy in Islamabad had been offering training facilities to Africa, Central Asia and other regions. He said the established principles and provisions of SSC should continue to guide this collaborative framework.

Mr Sharif said the 2008 global economic crisis reinforced the potential of SSC and induced the spirit of collective self-reliance.

He said South-South trade flows had been enhanced tremendously as a consequence of trade liberalisation and enhanced connectivity. He said intra-South trade was now estimated to be over $4 trillion and investment flows to developing countries were on the rise. They account for over 50 per cent of the global foreign direct investment. Almost a third originated from the South.

The prime minister said development assistance within the developing world was estimated to be between 12 and 16 billion dollars. “This dynamism has vastly increased the scope for cooperation among our countries,” he said.

He said Pakistan’s Programme for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation in Afghanistan, which was launched in 2002 with a financial commitment of $385 million, was scaled up to $500 million in 2013.

“We are actively engaged with regional organisations, including Saarc, ECO, ACD and D-8, based on our vision to strengthen regional and economic integration,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 28th , 2015

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