ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said yesterday that Pakistan is focussing to shift from geopolitics to geo-economics.
As part of the government’s efforts to promote economic diplomacy, Foreign Minister Qureshi chaired an interactive session on economic diplomacy with participation by Pakistan’s envoys to US, Turkey, Austria, Iran, Russia, the Netherlands, and Permanent Representatives to New York and Geneva.
While underscoring the growing significance of geo-economics in international politics, the Foreign Minister stated that economic security was a crucial function of national security.
He highlighted the government’s paradigm shift from geo-political contestation to geo-economic cooperation, and urged the envoys to make concerted efforts to implement the government’s economic agenda.
Apprising about the government’s robust reform measures for improvement of business climate in the country, he said that Pakistan’s ranking in ‘ease of doing business’ had significantly improved. Pakistan had secured 6th place among the world’s top 10 business climate improvers and its ‘business confidence ranking’ increased by 39 points as per OICCI’s latest survey.
The foreign minister also commended the pivotal role played by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Missions abroad in safeguarding Pakistan’s economic interests, especially in the successful implementation of the Government’s various initiatives/programmes such as Roshan Digital Account Initiative.
During the session, the participants identified the bottlenecks impeding bilateral economic cooperation with the Envoys giving their recommendations in this regard. They provided valuable input and insight on how to enhance economic cooperation at bilateral and regional levels.
In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision, Foreign Minister Qureshi has consistently stressed on promotion of Economic Diplomacy and increased economic cooperation with partner countries. Regular virtual meetings and interactions on Economic Diplomacy with Pakistani Envoys in key capitals are part of these efforts. This was the eighth meeting of the series.