ISLAMABAD: The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Strategy 2030 has formally been launched here on Monday jointly by the Government of Pakistan and Asian Development Bank. The new Strategy was recently approved by the 16th Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Ministerial Conference held on October 27, 2017, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. CAREC is an eleven-member country regional platform that aims to connect People, Policies and Projects for Shared and Sustainable Development.
Speaking on the occasion, Economic Affairs Division Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan appreciated the Asian Development Bank for extending cooperation for preparation of well-formulated strategy document. He assured Pakistan’s support to mobilize all possible resources for improving and developing regional connectivity as outlined in the new strategy. He said that the history of regional connectivity in the Central Asia region and the Sub-Continent since centuries is linked through the silk-routes.
ADB Pakistan Mission Country Director Xiaohong Yang added that ADB would continue to support the CAREC agenda; she said that CAREC can contribute to long-term economic and political stability creating a peace dividend. ADB Director Safdar Parvez headquarters Manila informed that ADB has already allocated $ 5 billion to implement the CAREC Strategy 2030. CAREC National Focal Person Syed Mujtaba Hussain in Pakistan encouraged all government agencies to submit practical and viable project proposals from their respective areas.
Special Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, high level representatives from State Bank of Pakistan, Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, Ministries of Railway, Water Resources, Climate Change, Commerce, Communications, National Food Security, and others attended the workshop and gave inputs to the way forward on implementation of the new strategy.
