Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar said on Thursday that the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit would help promote regional cooperation, trade and financial integrity among member states.
Delivering his speech at the media workshop organized by China Media Group ahead of the SCO summit, the minister said that at a time when good news were coming regarding the national economy and fruits of economic development have started reaching the people, hosting SCO summit will promote Pakistan's image and its future prospects.
Terming the SCO as the main forum for regional cooperation, the minister said it was an honor for Pakistan to host this Summit.
He said the counter terrorism measures and regional security issues will also be discussed in the summit.
Tarar recalled that over 80,000 Pakistani citizens were martyred in anti-terrorism war which was meant to make the world a safer place.
The minister hoped that regional cooperation in counter-terrorism will promote peace in the region.
He said adverse effects of climate change were hampering the sustainable development of the country. Pakistan's share of toxic gas emissions was less than one percent but it had to bear the brunt of climate change’s damage in form of floods and cyclones.
He stressed that regional cooperation and collective approach was also important in dealing with climate change.
"With the cooperation of regional countries, we can work on climate change agenda," he maintained.
He said Pakistan had always advocated for promotion of peace at the forum of SCO.
"In Astana SCO summit also we highlighted the issue of Palestine and it is important to discuss the issue of Palestine in this meeting of SCO", he said adding without long-term peace in the Middle East, there could be no peace in the world.
Tarar said that the world should admit that there was genocide of innocent Palestinians in Palestine and war crimes were being committed.
"We raised effective voice on the issue of Palestine at SCO and UN General Assembly forums", he said and added that peace in the region was possible only through collective efforts.
Tarar made it clear that without peace in Middle East, peace and stability in the world was not possible and it was responsibility of the civilised world to ensure an early ceasefire.
He said economic indicators of Pakistan were improving and hosting SCO summit at this point will prove beneficial for Pakistan.
During the last quarter, remittances worth $ 8.8 billion were received in the country and IT exports in last quarter have reached 3.8 billion dollars.
He said about 68 per cent of Pakistan's population consisted youth, and a large number of them are freelancers.
The minister said digitization of Federal Board of Revenue was being done which had resulted in doubling of a number of tax filers.
The minister said digital economy was very important for the country. Moreover he said that the regional countries could be integrated through digital technologies.
He said thanks to the economic measures taken by the government, the interest rate has decreased and investment had increased.
For a better and brighter future of the region, he said focus should be on increasing digital economy, trade and investment.
He said that Pakistan, due to its strategic location, could become hub of regional trade including central Asian states. He said there was need of more financial integration and economic cooperation among the member states of the SCO.
The minister thanked China, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for extending financial support which also helped in finalisation of agreement with International Monetary Fund.
The minister called for increase in cultural exchanges and people to people contacts among the SCO member countries. He said with more cooperation among the member states of SCO, the people of the region could be taken to prosperity.
Follow the latest news on Google News
