Pak PM terms SAARC as engine for regional economic growth

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said the SAARC grouping was an important vehicle for regional cooperation and an engine for economic growth of South Asia that has 1.7 billion consumers.
"Pakistan wishes to see SAARC as a vibrant regional organisation," Sharif told a delegation of Cabinet Secretaries of SAARC countries that called on him at the PM House here.
The delegation included India's Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth and Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Sharif said the eight-member bloc can play a significant role in achieving peace, progress and stability.
South Asia, with a market of 1.7 billion consumers, immense human capital, unexploited natural resources and a predominantly younger generation, can act as an engine of economic growth for the region as well as the world at large, he added.

The Prime Minister said with immense resources at its disposal, SAARC has the potential to transform the quality of life of the people of South Asia.

He expressed confidence that the SAARC forum will help the member nations to become more responsive to the aspirations of its people and an economic driving force for the region.
Sharif said Pakistan places poverty alleviation on top of the SAARC agenda and believes that the aspirations of the peoples of the member countries should be at the centre of its processes.
Pakistan is strategically located to play a vital role towards intra-regional and inter-regional connectivity, particularly developing rail and road links, he added.

Members of the delegation informed the Prime Minister that the countries are in the process of implementing the decisions taken during the 18th SAARC summit, held in Kathmandu last year.
They said their governments are committed towards expanding regional cooperation and wish more people-to-people contact and increased interaction among the business persons of the two countries.
They said SAARC countries can learn from the best practices of each other in various fields for the collective welfare of the people of the member nations.
They also conveyed greetings of their leadership to the Prime Minister.
The SAARC - an economic and geopolitical organisation of eight countries that are primarily located in South Asia - has Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as its members.