SDPI’s 20the Sustainable Development
Conference (Closing Plenary)
Representatives of the public, private and development sector must rise
above their differences and generate consensus on economic, environmental, and
foreign policy issues before the 2018 elections, said Syed Khurshid Shah,
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly
He was speaking at the closing plenary
of 20th Sustainable Development Conference organized by Sustainable
Development Policy Institute (SDPI’s) here on Thursday.
Mr Shah emphasized ensuring stronger
parliamentary oversight of the budget making process, while calling for the
implementation of people-centric economic policies, including the establishment
of an equitable welfare system to improve quality of life for the majority population.
He also stressed revisiting Pakistan’s development policies, which had sped up
the rate of environmental degradation, while calling for more efficient use of
our fiscal and natural resources, which are being strained by rapid population
growth. “It is the responsibility of democratic forces to speak truth and tell the
people truth and share with them what is reality,” he added.
In his keynote address Senator
Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence,
spoke on the opportunities and challenges of conducting trade and foreign
policy in South Asia’s emerging geopolitical landscape. He cautioned against
falling into the cold war model of geopolitics while welcoming the trend
towards greater regional connectivity and integration in South Asia, which
would enable the regional countries to leverage their tremendous human
resource, economic and natural resource potential. To ensure this trend is
fully realized, he recommended a revival of Track-II diplomatic channels and
full participation of regional partners in the upcoming SAARC Regional Summit
in Islamabad. He called for peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue in line with
United Nations resolutions, which is key to ensuring peace, stability and
prosperity in India, Pakistan and the wider region. He also emphasized the
importance of Pakistan’s new policy of respecting Afghanistan’s territorial
integrity and sovereignty, which would contribute towards the country’s ongoing
transition towards peace and stability.
Discussing the steps required for
Pakistan’s sustained growth, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary General at the
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP),
stressed the need for mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals across
development plans and budgets at the federal, provincial and local levels. She
also called on the government and political parties to unequivocally back the
UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and create a robust mechanism for the
implementation and monitoring of progress on much-needed socioeconomic reforms.
To fully realize the UN 2030 Agenda, she recommended an increase in public
spending on health and education, which is currently 4% of GDP; expansion of
social safety nets, including the Benazir Income Support Programme; increase in
financial inclusion for the poor and marginalized; and broadening of the tax
base to reduce Pakistan’s debt servicing burden and reliance on external
finance markets. She felt Pakistan needed to better leverage its presence on
regional cooperative arrangements and become a signatory of the Framework
Agreement on Facilitation of Cross Border Paperless Trade.
Opening the plenary session, SDPI
Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri highlighted the importance of building
consensus between political parties and other stakeholders on dealing with
Pakistan’s different economic, infrastructural, governance and foreign policy
challenges. He also stressed the need for promoting the politics of progress,
pluralism and inclusion, embodied by the SDC, in the interests of countering
the current wave of hate and exclusion gaining ground in the region and the
rest of the world.
The event concluded with an awards
ceremony in which a lifetime achievement award was presented to Ambassador
Shafqat Kakakhel, the chairperson of SDPI Board of Governors.
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