|
ISLAMABAD, April 5 (Xinhuanet): Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri today called for devising a comprehensive strategy to create a conducive environment for promoting regional integration through establishing Asia-wide linkages.
The Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) should act as the main facilitator in promoting strategic partnerships among the Asian countries, Kasuri told the opening ceremony of a day-long high level expert seminar on economic cooperation in Asia.
The seminar was held here prior to the holding of the fourth ACD ministerial meeting.
"There is a common desire to open new chapter of Asian prosperity and a lot of work has been done to expand trade and economic ties between various countries of Asia through sub-regional grouping but there is still a long way that we have to go to achieve the desired goals," said Kasuri.
He stressed the need for making concerted efforts by the Asian countries in order to move forward for enhancing trade and economic cooperation and also for fighting against poverty and making Asia prosperous.
He said the emergence of the ACD is a region-wide process. This reflects the common desire for self-reliance, consolidation and building a partnership among the Asian states, he added.
Kasuri called for enhancing cooperation among the Asian countries, particularly in agriculture, trade, finance and energy.
"Poverty is a major threat to prosperity everywhere and the situation demands that the Asian Cooperation Dialogue is rightly steered towards embracing all the sub-regions of the continent to share the fruits of progress, prosperity and the best practices to combat poverty in Asia," Kasuri said.
Speaking at the seminar, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Surakiart Sathirathai said that Asian countries must analyse the success stories of America and Europe and should take bold decisions to confront the challenges and make Asia a symbol of harmony and peace.
He called on the ACD members to continue their efforts to enhance cooperation, particularly in trade, finance, energy and information technology.
In his keynote address, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan suggested for creating a commodity exchange programme to expand the base of inter-regional trade in Asia.
Addressing the seminar, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo stressed the need to resolve political issues in Asia and promote understanding and trust to expand business network in the continent.
|