Date: 11/03/2009
SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN AT 10TH ECO SUMMIT IN TEHRAN ON 11 MARCH 2009
Your Excellency,
Mr. Mahmood Ahmedenijad,
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran!
Excellencies!
Ladies and Gentlemen!
It is a matter of great pleasure for me to participate in the Tenth Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
I am privileged to be in the beautiful and historic city of Tehran, at the threshold of spring, a season of hope and renewal.
The spiritual bonds between the people of Pakistan and people of Iran run deep.
From the people of my country, I bring sentiments of affection and goodwill.
On behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, may I express our profound gratitude to the people and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting the Summit and for their warm hospitality.
May I also felicitate Your Excellency on assuming the Chairmanship of this meeting.
Under your able guidance, I am confident that this Summit will mark another milestone in ECO's onward march.
I also take this opportunity to thank brotherly Azerbaijan for their able stewardship for our Organization since the 9th Summit in Baku.
Excellencies!
Since antiquity, our region has been the crossroads of world civilizations.
Our song and stories, our sages and sagas, our memories and mores germinate from interplay of ages.
We are the children of the same legacy. We are heirs to a profound and splendid heritage.
In the contemporary scheme of things, our region occupies a pivotal position.
Its vast expanse bridges the world; boasts unmatched wealth and is home to 380 million industrious people.
ECO represents our vast natural and human potential.
ECO is the essential link between our common past, our shared present and our desired common future.
It gives our collective identity a name, our plans a platform and our kinship, an agenda.
Sixteen years ago, we were joined in ECO's caravan of three, by our brethren from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Central Asia.
This journey of sixteen years has seen highs and lows. Yet the promise of Izmir has lived on.
ECO has emerged from its formative years, mature and strong.
Today, its flagship frameworks in Trade and Transport and the ECO Bank provide firm foundations for effective cooperation.
Excellencies!
We have assembled at a moment of great challenge. The global recession is verging on depression.
Nations and individuals are equally anxious, as we all are affected.
It is imperative to turn this challenge into opportunity.
The economic downturn that we see today will not be reversed with conventional wisdom or cosmetic changes.
We must seek a profound transformation.
Such transformation must be premised on the undeniable truth that our economic security is indivisible, no matter where we live on the globe.
That protectionism will not protect.
That stimulus packages are equally important for developing nations.
That more trade will build the prosperity that we all need.
That reform of international financial institutions will be essential.
While this malady has germinated elsewhere, Asia is in the best position to help a turnaround.
By ensuring deeper integration, and leveraging our economic complementarities, ECO can become the engine of growth for the world.
With ECO's vast resource base and positive fundamentals we can contribute significantly to a global economic upsurge.
May I suggest a few measures:
Pakistan welcomes Your Excellency's proposal to commission an expert panel to study the crisis.
Pakistan will make a substantial contribution to the study.
Excellencies!
Terrorism knows neither faith, nor frontiers. It breeds on injustice, deprivation and dispossession.
Terrorism has roots across the region. Its root causes have to be addressed.
A regional approach has to take into account the interests, the capacity and the aspirations of sovereign States and their peoples.
And has to build solid stakes in lasting peace.
With Afghanistan, our democratic Government has made a promising beginning.
We are making steady progress in building a relationship of deeper trust and understanding.
We have revived the Jirga process and set the directions of future cooperation.
Mr. Chairman!
The ECO family bears a special responsibility towards Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been at the forefront of ECO's efforts for the reconstruction of this brotherly country.
Let us give these efforts a strong impetus!
Pakistan will shortly be remitting an additional one million dollars to the ECO fund for Afghanistan.
Mr. Chairman!
Connectivity is the cornerstone of our common agenda. It has to be the highest of priorities.
The rich tapestry of this region's history and heritage was woven around the fabled Silk route.
And its future is premised on modern highways, physical and virtual, that create common space.
That encourage meld of money and markets, skill and knowledge, and bring resource to consumer, and capital to entrepreneur.
Pakistan lauds the Council of Ministers' decision to launch the Islamabad – Tehran – Istanbul train. We welcome also China's participation in ECO transport projects.
Mr. Chairman!
It is satisfying that ECO has set for itself ambitious goals in the ambit of trade.
A welcome development is the ECO Trade Agreement, which took effect from April 2008.
The exchange of offer lists should now be quickly completed.
The schedules of tariff concessions should be meticulously implemented.
We should also consider the establishment of a Joint Investment Company to boost trade and investments across the region.
Excellencies!
While important strides are being made, ECO has yet to realize its potential to the fullest measure.
We have to fashion ECO to the specifications of our region and the demands of our times.
May I suggest a set of pertinent measures:
First, Our common prosperity depends on enhanced trade. We must move quickly towards the creation of an ECO free trade area.
It is essential to march forward with a sense of purpose, and specified timelines, to realize this vision.
Second, Energy cooperation must be at the core of our collective endeavours.
ECO comprises both consumers and producers of energy.
An ECO Energy Ring, of pipelines and electricity grids, should be developed along side initiatives on new and renewable sources.
Third, Trans-regional development agenda should assume real substance.
With greater financial resources at its disposal, ECO must forge solid win-win partnerships.
Fourth, ECO must position itself for greater connectivity, within and without.
We should not only focus on building roads, railways, maritime and air links.
It is important to provide access to our landlocked member states.
We should also adopt integrated border management mechanisms.
Our land, air and sea corridors must link the economic powerhouses of the world.
Fifth, We must forge closer links with our adjoining regions, particularly SCO and SAARC.
Excellencies!
Before concluding, may I acknowledge with appreciation Secretary General ECO's sterling contribution.
I also wish to announce that Pakistan will be honoured to host the next ECO Summit in 2010.
Mr. Chairman!
We may be victims of circumstances, not of our own making, but we are masters of our own fate.
I leave you with the words of Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto that are as pertinent today, as when they were uttered fourteen years ago.
While addressing the Third ECO Summit in Islamabad in March 1995, she had said:
‘The task before us is not easy. But this is a remarkable time of transition and transformation, and the decisions we take now can effect the lives of our people, and the very futures of our nations. The times demand innovation, the times demand boldness, the times demand courage.'
I thank you