Pakistan must pursue regional economic integration to boost exports: Iftikhar Malik

LAHORE, Aug 16: Former President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik has stressed the urgent need for Pakistan to pursue greater regional economic integration, particularly with neighbouring Asian markets, to expand exports and achieve sustainable industrial growth.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said neighbouring markets offered relatively accessible and potentially vast opportunities for Pakistan’s manufactured goods, agricultural products, pharmaceuticals and services.

Iftikhar Ali Malik said Pakistan should take full advantage of this potential instead of allowing the opportunity to go to waste. Regional trade, he said, should be treated as an important instrument of industrial policy, particularly as the country continues to rely heavily on remittances to finance imports while exports remain under pressure.

He said Pakistan must fully exploit its geographical location and become more closely integrated with regional supply chains.

The former SAARC Chamber president urged the government to rethink its regional trade policy, saying Pakistan could not achieve sustained industrial growth while remaining economically isolated from its neighbourhood.

He called for greater market access, removal of trade barriers, improved cross-border connectivity and enhanced export capacity in key sectors.

He said sustainable external stability depended on Pakistan’s ability to generate greater foreign exchange through exports, stressing that regional integration and cooperation were essential for economic and export growth.

Iftikhar Ali Malik said Pakistan remained one of the least regionally integrated economies in Asia. He noted that more than two-thirds of Pakistan’s $4 billion in exports to nine regional countries went to China, despite total regional exports declining by 11 percent year-on-year.

He said less than one-third of Pakistan’s exports to the region reached other neighbouring and regional markets combined, while almost 98 percent of Pakistan’s imports from the region originated in China.