Editorial
Pak PM's visit proves useful
Horizon of understanding widens
Pakistan Prime Minister and current SAARC chairman Shaukat Aziz's brief but eventful visit to Bangladesh ended Thursday on a friendly, optimistic and forward-looking note. To have dubbed it as a routine visit of an incumbent SAARC chairman as part of his South Asian odyssey prior to the Dhaka summit in January would have been to miss out on the wider significance of the Shaukat Aziz trip. True, the gavel of chairing the next SAARC cycle will be passed on to Bangladesh but there is more to it: Dhaka SAARC summit being set against the backdrop of the Islamabad summit which marked the revitalisation of SAARC after it had gone into limbo for an uneasy length of time is billed to further energise the process. A firm decision was made at the Islamabad summit to strive towards putting SAFTA in operation from January 2006. In that scheme of things, Dhaka summit due in January 2005, doubtless assumes critical importance.Secondly, Shaukat's trip in Dhaka coincided with a refreshing wind of change blowing into the traditionally inimical relations between two major players in the SAARC -- India and Pakistan. Consequently, the prospect of a better security ambience in South Asia should help stimulate a collective SAARC endeavour geared to accelerating poverty alleviation in the region. This can happen in two ways. Intra-regional trade which is now abysmally below five percent of the total volume of global trade transacted by the seven SAARC countries, must be hugely increased through the SAFTA mechanism to make a difference in the poverty situation. In addition, it's crucial that SAARC has a common fund for the sake of poverty alleviation. Pakistan and Bangladesh prime ministers agree on this point. On the purely bilateral plane, issues of trade, investment and economic cooperation featured in the interactions across the board. Much as the volume of trade between Bangladesh and Pakistan is increasing with each passing year, there hasn't been any corresponding reduction in trade imbalance for Bangladesh. Duty-free access has been allowed to jute and tea only whereas altogether 121 Bangladeshi items are on offer. It's heartening to note though, that Pakistan is willing to help Bangladesh in the vertical integration of the country's textile sector. With her rich cotton-cum-textiles base Pakistan can provide us with the fabric we need. She can also invest in backward linkage industries which could have a positive bearing on our garments exports in view of the post-MFA regimen.
|
|
