Regional integration, connectivity Pakistan’s top priority: Lodhi

NEW YORK: Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has said that poverty and inequalities remain overarching challenges for Asia even as new opportunities were opening up by an expanding middle class, a trend which some have described as the one of the biggest seismic shifts in history, says a press release on Thursday.

Addressing at a side event at UN, organised by the Pakistan Mission to the UN and ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific) on enhancing regional cooperation in the region, she said that economic integration was much more advanced in East Asia, while South Asia remained one of the least integrated sub-regions of the continent.

Lodhi said that promoting regional integration and connectivity was one of Pakistan’s top priorities. “A peaceful neighbourhood – a goal that we have been pursuing – will benefit the entire region,” she emphasised. “Greater regional connectivity and modernisation of transportation, is one of the seven pillars of the long-term development strategy outlined in our “Vision 2025”, she said.

The Pakistani envoy said that the promise of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) had yet to translate into reality.

Referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Ambassador Lodhi said that it was a critical component of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative and was the most concrete and ambitious example of Pakistan’s commitment to enhance regional connectivity. “This development strategy and framework offers new opportunities for Asia’s transformation and prosperity”.

Similarly, Ambassador Lodhi said the Economic Cooperation Organisation had been unable to fully harness the energy of its member states. “Its long-term promise of development of transport and communication infrastructure, trade and investment and effective use of the region’s energy resources remains unmet”, she added.

Pakistan, she said, also supports regional energy integration and acknowledges the importance of developing regional energy strategies to achieve energy security. “We feel that transit facilitation measures for oil and gas pipelines, and other energy resources including access to international markets, should be promoted in accordance with the region’s interests”, she asserted.

Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, briefed the participants of the role ESCAP was playing in developing integrated markets, seamless connectivity, enhancing financial cooperation and addressing shared vulnerabilities.

She said that ESCAP, as the leading inter-governmental organisation in the region had multi-disciplinary technical, advisory and analysis capacities and several decades of experience in developing regional connectivity.

The well attended meeting ended with a lively question-answer session.