Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the South-South Cooperation round-table conference in New York where he stressed, that the economic crisis can only be eliminated through mutual cooperation. He said, China-Pak Economic Corridor will not only benefit Pakistan and China but the entire region.
The round-table conference was chaired by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the Chinese President Xi Jin Ping, AAP reported.
During his address Nawaz Sharif said, the South-South Cooperation conference provides a platform to lay the foundations of progress and prosperity, adding that it is cooperation between like-minded nations and Pakistan extends every support to the forum.
He praised the vision of President Xi Jinping and stressed that the CPEC is a beacon of the South-South Cooperation and through the CPEC not only China and Pakistan but the entire region will benefit.
Citing CPEC as an “inspiring model” of South-South cooperation, he said cooperation among developing countries played a significant role in promoting development and prosperity in the region.
He said the CPEC project formed an important component of Xi’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. “We greatly admire the vision underlying this initiative.”
He added that strengthening of institutional support from the UN system would help maximize the impact of South-South cooperation, as such an approach would help sustain development efforts and ensure enhanced participation of developing countries in the global economy, in conformity with the new agenda.
He said South-South trade flows had been enhanced tremendously as a consequence of trade liberalization and enhanced connectivity.
He said Intra-South trade was now estimated to be over $4 trillion and investment flows to developing countries were on the rise. They account for over 50% of the global foreign direct investment. Almost a third originated from the South.
He said development assistance within the developing world was estimated to be between 12 and 16 billion dollars. “This dynamism has vastly increased the scope for cooperation among our countries,” he said.
The roundtable was held on the margins of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit and the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
