Mahfooz Elahi, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has said that Pakistan has plenty of opportunities to strengthen its economy by developing close cooperation with Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) countries in trade and energy.
In a statement, he said that goods could be traded between member countries of the ECO at reduced duties which would give a boost to trade relations among countries of the bloc.
He was of the view that Pakistan was an energy deficient country and it could easily meet its energy requirements by promoting energy cooperation with ECO countries because this region was estimated to contain a third of the global energy resources.
He said that Crude oil production was more than 6000 barrels per day while Natural gas production was around 9 trillion cubic feet.
“Thus our cooperation with ECO countries in energy, trade and commerce activities would lead to our economic prosperity”, he added.
ICCI President said that the work in the field of trade liberalization should be towards the reduction of tariffs and removal of non-tariff barriers in the ECO region.
Customs and Transit Trade cooperation could also play an important role in the economic cooperation among the ECO Member States, he maintained.
Mahfooz Elahi said that the organisation should work for effective utilization of the agricultural and industrial potentials of ECO region.
Joint efforts should have to be make for better access to markets outside the ECO region for the raw materials and finished products of the Member States, he opinioned.
He said that government should emphasize on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and TAPI gas pipeline projects to overcome energy crisis. Infrastructure and energy connectivity should be given priority as key goals, he added.
ICCI President said that ECO States should promote trade and economic linkages and pool resources to harness their potential because exploitation of the true potential was needed.
