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Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira stated this on Thursday while speaking at the
concluding session of the conference on “Sustainable Development in South Asia:
Shaping the Future.”
“Together India and Pakistan can ensure successful
implementation of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s Charter as
well,” he added.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadeemul Haq said that
real problems for growth and development are not resources but public sector
management, lack of efficient markets, non-uniform growth and non-development
of social and human capital.
Earlier, at a special plenary, chaired by Dr Ishrat Husain,
former governor State Bank and Dean Institute of Business Administration,
Karachi, said that growth is strongly conflated with agricultural output and
employment shares in developing Asia. Husain was of the view that the vicious circle of economic
disparity could only be broken if there was good governance. “If Pakistan grows
between six to seven per cent annually it can create enough jobs to absorb new
entrants in the labour force,” he said.
Central University of Sikkim Vice Chancellor Dr Mahendra Lama
said that interdependence in South Asia is very critical as nations cannot
treat and address economic and ecological challenges alone. “The challenge is
to generate a critical mass of younger generation in the region who can
converse on developmental issues at the national and global level,” he said.University of Utah Professor Dr Tariq Banuri deplored the
marginalisation of sustainable development in the decision and policy-making
process in the region.
During the session on ‘Anatomy, impact, challenges and
resolution of conflicts’, the panellists highlighted institutional failures and
the elitist top-down approach that have resulted in violence in the country and
also impeded service delivery.
The session on “Religious Freedoms: South Asian perspective”
concluded with the demand for repealing discriminatory legislation against
minorities and fostering inter-community dialogue to pursue religious harmony
in the country.
Over 145 speakers from 19 countries attended the conference,
organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
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