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The National Assembly has been summoned to meet on Monday, the 1st April, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. in the Parliament House, Islamabad
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Integration and Connectivity of States in The Region, Imperative For Tapping The Immense Regional Economic Potential: NA Speaker

Wednesday, 18th December, 2019

INTEGRATION AND CONNECTIVITY OF STATES IN THE REGION, IMPERATIVE FOR TAPPING THE IMMENSE REGIONAL ECONOMIC POTENTIAL: NA SPEAKER

CPEC TO USHER IN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN AS WELL AS THE REGION

Islamabad December 18, 2019: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said that regional integration and connectivity of States in the region was imperative for tapping the immense economic potential. He said that benefits of the CPEC could only be harvested with integration of the Central Asian with South Asia. The Speaker was addressing a dialogue in Islamabad today, on “Role of Parliament in cementing regional Integration” in context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 

The Speaker observed that modern global and regional politics revolved around geo-economics and in that context CPEC, a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was presenting revolutionary opportunities for regional countries to build strong economic, trade and commercial ties. He said that Pakistan was geographically located at the interface of south and central Asia and the Middle East besides being a neighbor of China and linking landlocked Central Asian States with the rest of the world through CPEC would open new vistas of economic cooperation. He said that the Central Asian countries were already connected by a deep historical and cultural affinity, geographical proximity, and a convergence of strategic and economic interests.

Speaker Asad Qaiser said that economy of Pakistan badly suffered due to turmoil during the last three decades. He said that influx of refugees from Afghanistan and later war on terror, rendered down the economy. He said that advent of CPEC was a game changer and the country was put in Win Win situation. He said that Pakistan’s strategic location would make it a regional hub of trade and commerce to other parts of the world. The Speaker said that CPEC had ushered a new era of growth in Pakistan and made it an attractive destination for foreign direct investment. He termed CPEC, not only game changer for Pakistan but the whole region. He said that the projects under CPEC were near to completion and would finally start contributing in the Pakistan economy. The Speaker was confident that job creation and addressing energy deficit were one of the early benefits of CPEC.

Referring to the instant dialogue, the Speaker said that Parliament would extend its fullest cooperation for realization of dream of achieving fullest potential of CPEC. He said that the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC was constituted for facilitating the process. He appreciated Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Pakistan for supporting National Assembly Secretariat for facilitating this dialogue. The Report by FES on Building Regional Connectivity for Pakistan was also launched by presentation it to Speaker National Assembly.