ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) has announced to organize a high level “3-day 6th mega edition of SAARC Business leaders Conclave (SBLC) on March 16 at Kathmandu, Nepal.
It was disclosed by President SAARC CCI Suraj Vaidya in a meeting with SAARC Chamber Pakistan Chapter Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik.
In a statement issued on Friday, he said that SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry would organize the conclave in which chambers from all South Asian member countries would participate besides highlighting the importance of trade in the region.
Unfolding the salient features of the enclave, Suraj said the theme of this year’s conference was “Unleashing Shared Prosperity through Economic Integration.”
Prime Minister of Nepal will inaugurate while ministerial round will have the participation of all the Commerce Ministers of SAARC member nations. Over 500 leading business leaders, eminent International experts and senior dignitaries from public and private sectors of SAARC member nations were expected to attend the business conclave, he added.
Highlighting the importance of the economic integration in South Asia, he said the urgency of the need for new policies to stimulate economic growth was all the more poignant because the region as a whole remains plagued by extreme poverty.
Suraj Vaidya said the geopolitical importance of South Asia, shared borders with Central Asia and the oil-rich Gulf, its natural resources, and its human capital make the region’s potential for growth enormous.
Speaking on the occasion, Iftikhar Ali Malik said the regional dynamic today was skewed in such a way that the larger economies, India and Pakistan, were more likely to import from more distant countries than from the region.
He said 6th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave was an opportunity where leading business leaders, politicians, opinion makers, prominent academicians, and Industry players, renowned and celebrated figures of South Asia, being the drivers of socio political change, could vocally advocate policies that promote such integration.
“SAARC Business Leaders Conclave is truly the only podium that articulates and speaks the voice of the private sector to the public sector in the region,” he added.
Secretary General SAARC Chamber Hina Saeed and Deputy Secretary General Zulfiqar Ali Butt were also present on the occasion.
