May it be the president’s visit to China or other countries of the world including the countries of brotherly Middle East and that of Central Asia — or elsewhere — he is taking pains to present the true, moderate and modern face of the country. President Zardari is rather known for his extraordinary international bonhomie and although this cheerfulness owes to his individual psyche, it is never detached from his proven love for his homeland. As such, the president is always making use of his worldwide acceptability to earn prosperity for the country besides bringing it honour in the comity of nations.
Those who have closely monitored Zardari’s functioning, opine that his policy of reconciliation is not a strategy. It is rather an extension of his established approach of life. And he has intentionally extended this policy of reconciliation to the global level. It is because of this reason that Pakistan has become considerably relevant on the world map. For sure, it is not because of its war on terror but due to its soft image that Pakistan has gained significance in the international fraternity. This soft image of Pakistan just can’t be tarnished by any acts of terrorism, courtesy the painstaking efforts of PPP-government in general and President Asif Ali Zardari in particular to depict the country’s true, humanitarian, moderate face before the world.
This implies Pakistan’s strength and stability, a goal that the PPP-led government is pursuing vigorously by seizing every opportunity to promote global goodwill and amity.
Even the eighth Summit of the D-8 being held in Islamabad, is seen as an opportunity for Pakistan’s greater strength and prosperity with the cooperation of regional partners in the developing world. The theme of the Summit is praiseworthy. The theme is “Democratic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity” and it underlines the importance of democracy as the fountainhead for achieving peace and prosperity for its people and promoting cooperation with the developing countries. Heads of state/government and leaders of delegations from member-countries will attend the summit. They include Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Malaysia will be represented at deputy-prime-minister level and Bangladesh at ministerial level.
President Asif Ali Zardari will chair the Summit meeting. The Islamabad Summit not only coincides with the 15th anniversary of the D-8 but also with the completion of five-year term, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, of a popularly elected civilian government despite so many impediments and perils. This democratic achievement of Pakistan has also positively projected its global image and it is going to get further boost during the D-8 summit that promises hope for the member countries, more so for Pakistan in many ways.
On assuming chairmanship of D-8, Pakistan’s standing in the South block will be strengthened and Pakistan’s profile will get projection at the regional and international levels. It will also improve regional connectivity of Pakistan in the trade and business sectors besides enhancing its global interaction during its chair (2012-2014), with other organizations notably OIC, ECO and interface with ASEAN. Pakistan’s business community in particular views it as a golden opportunity for enhanced cooperation in trade and business among the D-8 countries because the private sector in Pakistan would be able to create networking with their counterparts in other D-8 countries, aimed at launching joint ventures and synergizing corporate and business sector representatives’ interaction with the private sector of D-8 countries.
Government of Pakistan has paid special attention to the active participation of business community which has been motivated through solid incentives and business-and-public friendly policies of the PPP-led government. This in turn will help Pakistan in transacting with the D-8 countries with a unified approach based on an ever-flourishing public-private partnership. This strengthened public-private partnership in Pakistan is taken for a big economic accomplishment in other countries and it creates yet greater opportunities for bringing foreign financial and technological assistance in the country. The Summit 2012 is poised to further its agenda of development cooperation among member-countries and it will consider and adopt, inter alia, the following on recommendation of the D-8 Council and the Commission:-
D-8 Charter, D-8 Global Vision for next two decades, Islamabad Declaration 2012 & appointment of new Secretary-General of the D-8.
Equally significant are the sideline events that would cover a wide range of activities including D-8 Business Forum, to be attended by corporate leaders/private-sector and eminent CEOs from Pakistan and other D-8 countries with focus on these themes: Infrastructure Development through public-private partnership in D-8 countries, Value-addition in textile sector & joint venture possibilities, opportunities & challenges in alternate energy sector and engineering sector and agro-based industries as future of D-8.
Other important activities will include meeting of heads of Central Banks with focus on identifying possible areas for cooperation on financial and monetary issues, particularly in the field of Islamic banking and meeting of heads of Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs). The latter event’s agenda features exchange of views on possible areas of cooperation for promotion of trade, implementation of PTA and agreement on Visa facilitation for businessmen, and development of Halal Sector and capacity building of the member States.
A trade exhibition is also scheduled to be held followed by an Interactive Seminar.
Recommendations of the above sideline events would be submitted to the Summit for consideration including Report of D-8 Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry on private-sector led cooperation.
And it is believed that the Summit will also build confidence of the international community, in particular and help in removing misperceptions created in a section of international media.
Here, it would be pertinent to mention one landmark achievement of D-8 and that is its 10-year roadmap for Economic and Social Cooperation for the period 2008-2018.
This roadmap sets benchmarks to be achieved in different areas. For instance, the roadmap envisages increase in intra D-8 trade to $ 517.5 billion by 2018. The D-8 has also finalized three framework agreements, namely Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA); Agreement on Simplification of Visa Procedures for Businessmen of Member States and Agreement on Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters. Pakistan has signed and ratified these agreements.
No comments:
Post a Comment