Opposition divided on accepting govt's invitation for PAECO moot

ISLAMABAD: The opposition is divided on accepting the invitation of the government for attending second two-day general conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (PAECO) starting here today (Tuesday).

The parliamentary sources told The News on Monday that the assembly will also be addressed by President Arif Alvi and the invitation has been extended to all parliamentary groups present in the parliament. The PPP is inclined to attend the conference while all other groups, including Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and JUI of Maulana Fazl, have virtually turned down the invitation, the sources said. None of the opposition stalwarts was available to offer comments, including former speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who is widely respected in parliamentarians of these countries.

Pakistan is hosting the general conference of the PAECO after eight years. The two-day conference is being attended by the parliamentary heads from Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The agenda items of the conference, include discussions on the impact of Covid-19 on implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the role of parliaments in enhancing trade and connectivity and advancing tourism for development and poverty alleviation.

It has been officially stated that the aim of the conference is to help and push member countries' governments to further strengthen economic and trade relations and boost people-to-people contacts between the member states.

The PAECO was founded in 2013 and its first inaugural meeting was held in Islamabad in Feb 2013 with an aim to support the member states in enhancing the socio-economic development of the region.