Saarc CCI stresses multilateral ties with China

LAHORE: Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry underscored a need to foster trade relation with China from the chamber’s platform instead of developing bilateral ties.

President Ruwan Edirisinghe of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement on Monday, said the regional countries are entering into new relationships with China.

“For one, China has offered generous proposals in the region: CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) being the much-talked about example in Pakistan,” Edirisinghe said. “China is also investing in other countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh. Yet, as of now, China has to deal with these South Asian countries separately, a situation not much beneficial to both Saarc and China.”

Edirisinghe was addressing a forum, “Shaping Future Together—Industrial Cooperation of Mutual Opening”. SAARC CCI high-level business delegation attended the 3-day 13th China-South Asia Business Forum held in Kunming, Yunnan province, China. The forum played pioneering role in promoting mutual understanding, economic and trade cooperation and information communication between China and South Asian countries.

Saarc CCI President said South Asian countries are working in the same direction individually “why they don’t work together”.

He sought deeper economic cooperation with China to usher into a new era of progress, prosperity, development, growth and public welfare in the region.

“The recent visit of Saarc CCI’s representatives to China was a great success in terms of increasing trade volume among the Saarc’s states and China,” he added.

President Saarc CCI said the south Asian’s states will make the chamber a vibrant and viable organisation to reap the advantages of regional connectivity’s schemes, such as China’s One-Belt One Road initiative, which also includes the mega project of CPEC. He said the schemes will further improve relationship of the regional countries with China.

Edirisinghe said there is a need for Saarc to learn from the success of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

“Leaders of Saarc countries meet informally more often that they interfere less in the internal workings of each other’s governments, and there (must) be more interaction at every level of governments,” he said. “Just as Indonesia, the biggest economy in the Asean, allowed smaller countries such as Singapore to take the lead, India too must take a backseat in decision-making, enabling others to build a more harmonious Saarc process.”