Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday sought the proactive support of the world community to fight terrorism.
Addressing the plenary session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) here, Gilani said terrorism was a serious problem that was affecting the very fabric of the Pakistani society.He briefed the 45-member world body on Pakistan’s position on terrorism and said his country was tackling it seriously by various means in order to ensure peace and security at all levels.
He hoped that the ASEM countries, which represent diverse cultures and faiths, would contribute to inter-faith harmony and culture understanding as a means to counter terrorism and militancy needed no emphasis.
The prime minister assured that Pakistan was prepared to contribute to further this objective together with its ASEM partners. It was for the first time that Pakistan, after getting a formal admission, addressed the Asia-Europe Meeting at the prime-minister level.
Gilani thanked all the ASEM partners with whose support Pakistan had been able to join the high-profile forum. The prime minister said Pakistan considered the ASEM a vital forum for dialogue and cooperation between the two continents.
He said: “Pakistan enjoys cooperative partnership with both the Asian and European countries. While the European Union is our largest trading partner, our ‘Vision East Asia’ policy endeavours to develop multi-dimensional ties with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
Gilani said: “Between themselves, the ASEM countries represent almost 58 per cent of the world’s population and 50 per cent of its GDP, nearly 32 trillion dollars.” He added that this combined wealth and strength provided an opportunity to assert their efforts to meet multiple challenges, from terrorism to climate change and from food security to energy security.
Gilani termed the global financial crisis a new challenge, saying it was being described as the worst financial crisis since the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. He said while the developed countries were mobilising hundreds of billions of dollars to support their financial institutions, the developing countries were sinking deeper into the poverty trap.
Hunger has increased affecting close to 900 million people worldwide, the prime minister said. He added that if the financial crisis was not handled carefully, the situation could transform into a global recession affecting countries like Pakistan, whose 50 per cent external trade was with the US and the EU.
The financial crisis, he said, could not have come at a worst time for net food and fuel, impacting countries like Pakistan that were facing a rising trade deficit due to the high food and fuel prices.
In the short term, he said, the international community should take action to stop the free fall of financial markets, overcome uncertainty, restore the investorsí confidence and protect the growth and development gains from going waste in the developing countries.
The prime minister emphasised that in the medium and long term, a holistic approach was needed to deal with this situation. He said: “In our view, the answer does not lie in more protectionism but greater trade and enhanced investment flow all across Asia and Europe, especially from the developed rich to the developing poor.”
The prime minister said the development assistance, especially concessional financing and investment together with technology transfer, was vital for avoiding further instability coupled with the reform of the international financial system.
The prime minister emphasised that without the global compact of collective and coordinated response, they would not be able to deal with these issues.Highlighting the importance of Asia, the Gilani said the centre of global economy was now shifting to this part of the world.
He said Asia was the EU’s second largest trading partner, accounting for 21 per cent of the EU’s total exports, with major thrust of trade with the ASEM partners namely the ASEAN-10 and North East and the South Asian countries.
He said Asia and the EU were also important investment partners, adding that the Asia-Europe commercial ties were of critical importance for the prosperity of both regions.The prime minister said Pakistan was in the process of developing infrastructure to serve as a regional hub between China, Middle East, Central Asia and South-West Asia.
Pakistan, Gilani said, had developed the Gwadar seaport to serve as a trans-shipment point for the region.He said his country was already linked to China through highway.Plans to enhance the regional connectivity through the road and rail links, oil and gas pipelines, optic fibre links were being discussed with our regional partners, he added.
Gilani pointed out that Pakistan would like the ASEM to promote enhanced connectivity between Europe and Asia. The concept of soft borders had provided dividends to Europe, he said and added that this could also be done in Asia by linking Europe to Asia.
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