KABUL (SW): Afghanistan firmly believes that we can only prosper and progress together, Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Deputy Foreign Minister told representatives of some 70 countries and organization at the launch of sixth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) here in on Thursday.
Aimed at strengthening regional economic integration, the RECCA VI conference is complementary process just like the Istanbul-Heart of Asia processes, which were initiated in 2005 and 2011 respectively.
Karzai urged the participants to take advantage of the fact the Central and South Asia have been seen as ‘the global land bridge’ and ‘the epicenter of the global economic dynamism”. Economists are increasingly predicting that the economic fortune of the region would rise dramatically within the coming 10 years.
The Deputy Minister noted that Afghanistan was aware about the political sensitivities that have prevented various trade initiatives. “Political will and political discords are immensely influential variables in our shared attempt to build greater regional integration”, he noted.
He mentioned that RECCA was well positioned to take advantage of the evolving geo-economic context. Karzai added that this would also help reduce instability in the region.
Abdul Sattar Murad, Minister for Economy said on the occasion that the economic future of Afghanistan and the regional partners depends on trade, transit, expansion of the energy sector and extraction of mineral deposits. He highlighted the significance of transit trade in the region in the wake of drop in oil prices and volatility in stock markets.
Highlighting the importance of the six regional trade and energy corridors, Murad said the government of Afghanistan has identified a set of projects that meet the new strict feasibility criteria. “What is clear here, according to the current regional economic data, is all we need to make progress”, he said.
ENDS
