We want trade not aid: Nawaz

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for a development agenda that is not based on aid alone but promotes market access and economic partnerships among developing and developed countries to achieve the goal of sustainable development.

“I am an advocate of trade not aid; market access, economic partnerships, and transfer of technology and scientific know-how,” the prime minister said in his key note address at the high-level political forum on sustainable development on Tuesday.

The prime minister was invited by the president of UN General Assembly to share his ideas and suggestions on the issue of global partnerships for development to create jobs and improve sustainable lifestyles.

Nawaz Sharif added that he was against aid because it created dependency and affected the growth of states. He said that despite efforts that had been made by the United Nations, “poverty is still stalking the earth. Climate change has made our planet extremely fragile and vulnerable”.

He asked the forum to focus on jobs creation. “As politicians and leaders of our nations, we all know that jobs sit at the heart of growing economies, good governance and political stability,” he added.

He said his government was investing maximum time and energy in indirect interventions, in reviving their economy and taking our growth from the present 3.6 percent to more than 7 percent in next five years. This will give a strong stimulus to agriculture, industry, trade, and services and create millions of new jobs. The government was also giving incentives to the private sector to generate maximum employment, the prime minister concluded.