South Asian Economic Union: Regional integration termed vital
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ISLAMABAD (APP): Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Sunday said it will fully cooperate with the government in making South Asian Economic Union (SAEU) a reality as soon as possible as it is need of the hour.
South Asia has countless development opportunities and vast potential to meet the growth requirements of its people but unfortunately majority of the masses continue to reel under poverty due to conflicts, said Abdul Rauf Alam, President FPCCI in a statement.
Regional organizations are one of the most suitable means to normalize the relations among the regional partners and to channelize the cooperative gestures into the right tract besides a sense of security among the members, he added.
President FPCCI lauded the resolve of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to establishing SAEU to ensure regional development while rooting out poverty, hunger and illiteracy from the region which was once very rich.
"I have no doubt that SAARC nations would join hands for SAEU to provide a viable way of getting over one billion people of our region out of poverty through regional cooperation which is the only option for rapid socio-economic progress," he added.
Rauf Alam said that we have vast fertile lands, mineral resources, manpower, deep seas, large mountain range and gifted people and what we need is to join hands to exploit resources for the economic and social uplift of masses knotted in the clutches of poverty and hunger.
He noted that unfinished agendas and some political disputes have been delaying the process of regional integration which need special attention of all the countries of the grouping to move ahead.
Regional integration had great potential to offer opportunities for the collective uplift of the region representing 3 percent of the world's area, 21 percent of the world's population and 9.12 percent of the global economy, he added.
