According to state media Arif Alvi made the remarks while speaking at the 15th Summit of the Heads of State of the Economic Cooperation Organisation’s (ECO) in Ashgabat.
During the speech he welcomed the operationalization of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) road corridor.
He said the ECO region has all the elements needed for economic integration and rapid economic growth: rich resources, enterprising people, geographical contiguity, and a common culture and heritage.
“Yet, for historical reasons, the ECO is among the least integrated regions in terms of trade, investment, finance, infrastructure, regional value chains, labour mobility and social integration,” he noted.
President Arif Alvi said we have all witnessed the negative impact of unilateral coercive sanctions in our region. Freezing of assets and banking restrictions worsen the human suffering and entail serious implications for regional peace, security and prosperity.
“And who doesn’t know better than our brother Iran,” he said.
He went on to say the intra-regional trade among ECO members is only 8 percent of their total trade. Unlocking the potential for regional integration will provide significant impetus to growth and development in all ECO Member States.
Arif Alvi referring to the situation in Afghanistan and said the key to connectivity is peace in Afghanistan which we have all mentioned today. Today, after 40 years, war has ended in Afghanistan. But a humanitarian crisis and the specter of economic collapse loom large over its people.
He called upon the Islamic world, including members of the ECO, to play a role in preventing a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan that could revive the chaos, conflict and threat of terrorism in the country.
He stressed that frozen assets of Afghanistan must be released to help alleviate the sufferings of the Afghan people.
Meanwhile Arif Alvi met with President of Iran Seyed Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of 15th ECO Summit and emphasized on utilising barter trade mechanism with Tehran while expressing satisfaction bilateral ties.
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