IPRI holds conference on Blue Economy of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) on Thursday organised a round table conference on ‘Blue Economy of Pakistan’, a statement said.

The conference deliberated as to how the blue economy of Pakistan could be molded in national life and benefit from its vibrancy at home and abroad, it added.

The discussion was part of the Grand Dialogue that IPRI had initiated to create a nexus between the stakeholders and the policy-makers to form a strategy.

Pakistan is rich in marine resources and with a coastal belt spanning over two provinces has readily access to the Arabian Sea, which is a source of strength for the economy and national security.

However, the participants regretted that the Blue Economy has not been harnessed to its maxim, and there is a lot that needs to be done.

With coastal flanks in east and west, Karachi and Makran, respectively, Pakistan possesses a rich treasure trove that could be cultivated in the trade, tourism and ecological realms.

The participants pointed out that Pakistan has a reach of 350 nautical miles into the sea and the dynamics of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has thrown open the country as a strategic outlet to the region at large.

The panel believed that it is time to balance the geo-strategic compulsions on land and water, and formulate policies that are specifically ordained, and date-centric.

In an era of geo-economics, the potential of the Blue Economy cannot be ignored nor could it be limited to maritime activity in the security horizons.

For the last 20 years, no new ship has been registered, whereas in the 1970s, Pakistan’s 40 per cent of freight was on sea and it had around 70 ships. The decay is owing to a lack of policy focus and the sense of ad-hocism as a result of political instability.

The allocation of the budget is also reflective of the fact that more than 80 per cent of finances are foreign funneled, and a mere 20 per cent from local avenues. Likewise, Pakistan was once home to the shipbreaking industry, which is now in tatters.

The speakers stressed over the fact that an integrated maritime and business-centric ecological knitted policy is the need of the day. The areas of interest could be marine sports, festivals, home-economics of locals, ferry services and rich sea catch.

While the Blue Economy is all about sustainability, it is time to restructure the maritime strategy with geo-economics and come up with tailor made policies in each and every sector of sea productivity.

While 2020 was declared as the Year of Blue Economy, it could not make an impact on the country.

Pakistan needs a socio-economic and eco-centric long-term strategy that has a firm input on coastal growth, deep sea mining, ocean reserves, as well as bio-technology. A private-public partnership can help churn wonders by creating zones that cater to area-specific marine potential and utility.

Rear Admiral Syed Faisal Ali, Ambassador Nadeem Riaz, Commodore Babar Bilal, Dr Nazir Hussain, Faheem Sardar, Dr Shabana Fayyaz, Dr Mahmood Khalid, Reema Shaukat, Urooj Raza and Naufil Shahrukh spoke at the event.

IPRI Economic Security Chair Dr Aneel Salman moderated the session with President IPRI Ambassador Raza Muhammad in the chair.