Renowned economist Dr Saboor Ghayur lauded the announcement of Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf for hosting Asian Cooperation Organization (ACO) conference on energy in December. Talking to a private news channel, he said that if Pakistan hosts the conference, it will open up new avenues of investment in energy sector for exploitation of enormous resources like Thar Coal and small dams. He said that the conference will attract the attention of international investors towards Pakistan. He lauded the recent conference of Asian Cooperation Organization (ACO) held in Kuwait and said that Pakistan is also concentrating on regional trade in order to reduce its expenditure. Regional trade and cooperation reduce the costs of labor and transportation, he added. Dr Saboor said that new economies are emerging in Asia and it is hoped that China will be a leading economy in the next fifteen years. Pakistan has also potential in this regard, he noted. Moreover, fifty per cent of the world population is also in Asia, therefore, cooperation among regional countries can play a pivotal role in term of utilisation of human resources, he said. “Pakistan is facing immense energy crisis. The project of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) will not only provide energy but also help recipient countries in terms of pipeline transport fee.” he stated. He said that the surplus of international community is not operational as China has $ 2 trillion reserves and it is expanding its investment. Gwadar port was constructed with assistance of China which is providing benefits to Pakistan, he said.
