LAHORE: The member countries of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) must work together to promote durable peace and strengthen economic ties besides accelerating development activities for people of the region
This was stated in a message received here Monday from New Delhi from VP,SAARC CCI,pak chapter Iftikhar Ali Malik leading 100 member Pak traders delegation.
While chairing morning session of a seminar jointly organised by SCCI and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on "Human Resources Development in South Asia" he said that 65 per cent of total south asian trade potential has not been exploited, adding that it is one of the key reasons for unstability in this region.
He said that the intra-regional trade figures of south asian are disappointing as trade in the region constitutes only 1.4 per cent of the total world imports and only 27.9 per cent of the GDP,the lowest in the world.
He said although south asia has significantly reduced import tariffs,the cost of trading across its boarders is one of the highest in the world. A number of non-tariff barriers have been identified which hamper trade and increase cost.
He said that current deliberations would provide impetus to liberalization of inter-SAARC through SAFTA and materialise as smooth trade flows and reduced transaction costs in intra-regional trade.
Iftikhar Ali Malik said that with rapid advancement of technology the need for sustainability and survival has become crucial perspective for firms throughout the world as competition grows gruesome.
He said that current global crunch has become a setback for countries throughout the world especially in developing and transition economies. Therefore regional co-operation is one of the most important phenomena today.
He said that the world today has now become a global village and the integration of business and multinational firms has made the world a smaller place to live in."Distances and time are no longer the constraints for business across the globe".
High level delegates from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan,India, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal,Maldives and Bangladesh are attending the 17th general assembly and 53rd executive committee meetings of SCCI.
The inaugural session was chaired by the outgoing President SCCI Annis Ul Haq from Bangladesh who meanwhile handed over the SCCI presidentship to Vikramjit Singh Sahney of India for next two-year term.
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