Federal Secretary for Commerce, Zafar Mehmood said on Thursday the promotion of regional trade is a priority of the government and the Prime Minister Gilani has declared the Year 2012 as the "Year of Regional Trade and Economic Connectivity. He was speaking at a seminar on "Regional Trade and Economic Connectivity" organised by the Ministry of Commerce. Representatives of both public and private sectors attended the seminar.
Inaugurating the seminar Mehmood further highlighted the strategic importance of Pakistan and the role Pakistan can play as an economic hub for landlocked Central Asian Republics (CARS). He also touched upon the trade normalisation process with India, Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) and Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation (CAREC).
He said that this seminar is the first in the series of seminars, which will be organised over the next year including one in February 2012 to develop further co-ordination among the stakeholders.
The Director General of Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development gave a presentation on trade performance of Pakistan and regional trade initiatives ie South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), ECOTA, ASEAN, and GCC. The Ministry of Communications also gave a presentation on the road infrastructure and road agreements that are in progress and operationalized. Presentations were also given on the role of the private sector, freight forwarding and logistics, and on trade and transport facilitation.-PR
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