Doc has the voice of development

As leaders of Asia, Pakistan would like Japan and China to show off their existences and convey the voices of developing countries to international organizations.
This was stated by Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr.Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in an interview with Nihon Keizai Shimbun (NIKKEI) in Tokyo on
October 12,2012 (Friday), which is their third largest newspaper and the only business daily having the largest circulation in Japan.
Ms. Mariko Koike staff writer of the newspaper interviewed Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Dr.Abdul Hafeez Shaikh who is currently visiting Japan.
In reply to the question that what are the future prospects of the Economy Hafeez Shaik said that” the growth rates of the Asian countries were relatively high. But the economic prospects of China and India have been slow down. The slowdown in the Chinese economy has affected Pakistan. Our exports increased by 28 percent last year but we don’t expect increase this year”, he remarked.
Dr.Shaikh further said that with the rise of emerging countries, the structures in the world economy and international organization are changing.
“As leaders of Asia, we would like Japan and China to show off their existences and convey the voices of developing countries to international organizations”, he remarked.
The Minister added that Pakistan had received assistances from the Japanese government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for long years and they are important partners.
“We are promoting projects worth US $ 3 billion with ADB. We want to use Japan’s know-how in arranging transportation infrastructures at urban areas”, he remarked.
Finance Minister Dr.Abdul Hafeez Shaikh told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (NIKKEI) newspaper that Pakistan also wants to deepen the relation with the private sector.
“We are promoting open policies for foreign capitals. Japanese auto makers, such as Toyota, Suzuki and Honda, have invested in Pakistan, including operations of factories, for long years. Currently we are focusing on developing the energy sector”, he remarked.
Pakistan, he said is ranked 6th in the world in terms of coal reserves.
“We are also promoting large-scale projects jointly with foreign companies. We hope for the participation of Japanese companies in the power generation and other fields”, he said.
To a question regarding Pakistan is also hit by natural disasters so often, including earthquake, the Minister replied that with global warming, the frequency of natural disasters is increasing all over the world.
“We need to share countermeasures against the disasters urgently”, he remarked.
Dr.Shaikh said that at the Sendai conference, “we proposed to set up an international organization to respond to world disasters comprehensively for a mid-term perspective”.
He added that the organization would control from rescue and relief activities to reconstruction works by keeping disaster data, anti-disaster know-how and financial assistances.