Prime Minister Of Pakistan
Presently the government of Pakistan record that fruits of prudent strategies of the incumbent government started producing their impacts as economic indicators moving towards optimistic sign. No doubt, COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on Pakistan’s economy; however, to ascertain the true extent, it is significant to take stock of economic presentation of Pre-COVID-19, fundamentally for two causes; to explore economic outcomes in relation to the policy environment adopted and second, what trajectory of economic recovery we expect post COVID-19. More recently sources record that Prime Minister Imran Khan called upon the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) to devise a joint strategy for ensuring equitable access and distribution of Covid-19 vaccine for the public good.
Imran Khan, in his address to the virtual 14th ECO Summit themed ‘Regional Economic Cooperation in the aftermath of Covid-19’, stressed the need for mobilising the resources of ECO countries to fight the pandemic effectively. Prime Minister opened the summit in country’s capacity as the chair of the 13th summit held in Islamabad and lauded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current chair, for his timely initiative amidst the Covid-19 condition. He said since the Covid-19 pandemic was still not over, there must be a collective attempt for production of vaccine on an affordable rate and it should be declared the public good. According to him, no one will be safe from virus unless everyone is safe. Pakistan had introduced the Covid-19 inoculation with frontline workers on priority. He also noted that the ECO member states were severely affected through the health and economic crisis unleashed through this pandemic with over 150 million people hit by the virus and over 2.5 million lost their lives. He said the developing countries, counting the ECO member states, had been disproportionately affected with economy declined and poverty increased. Prime Minister Khan said Pakistan faced problems during the pandemic, however, it adopted a people and poor-centric approach to balance saving of lives and livelihoods. Despite the financial constraints, he said, government of Pakistan allocated an unprecedented $8 billion to the poorest and most vulnerable households by small businesses and direct handouts. Imran Khan also said the rich states injected $20 trillion to their economies to stimulate growth but the developing states did not have the capacity for fiscal space to ensure liquidity. He recalled his proposal of a 5-point plan to offer developing states the fiscal space to recover from Covid-19 crisis, counting debt relief, creation and redistribution of special drawing rights, concessional finance, mobilisation of climate finance, and ending illicit financial floors and return of stolen assets back to developing countries. Prime Minister pointed out that $1 trillion was unlawfully transferred yearly from poor to rich states and also to tax havens. He further said it was necessary to reject any attempt linking Islam with terrorism and termed it the “biggest injustice” being done to Muslims in the whole world. The misuse of freedom of expression to cause pain to Muslims by blasphemous acts must be stopped. Mr Khan said at the United Nations, Pakistan, Turkey and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had presented a proposal for the annual observance of an international day to combat Islamophobia. On the other hand presently sources also record that Japanese Ambassador Matsuda Kuninori appreciated Imran Khan’s initiative of adopting the Japanese Miyawaki planting technique in the country’s urban localities to fight environmental pollution. Japan supports Imran’s vision of Green Pakistan as this spirit was demonstrated through the Embassy of Japan in Islamabad by planting various trees in the compound of the Embassy also in the Islamabad Japanese Garden. The Ambassador said he values the initiative of the Pakistani premier to use the Japanese Miyawaki technique pioneered through botanist and plant ecology expert Dr Miyawaki Akira, who advocated the value of natural forests. Combating environmental problems is one of the priority areas for Japan and we appreciate the Pakistani government and Imran Khan’s vision for creating a pure, green and healthy environment for the people, he said. Under the Japanese Miyawaki approach, dozens of species that suit the environment are planted in the similar area, close to each other, which ensures that they grow in a competitive environment, permitting the trees to grow faster compared to normal plantation.