Foreign Minister calls for revisiting global trade, investment, finance, taxation and technology regimes

Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Wednesdy called for revisiting the international policy frameworks governing trade, investment, finance, taxation and technology.

In a video statement today at the General Debate of the 15th Quadrennial United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Foreign Minister drew attention to the COVID-induced and exacerbated economic, social and public health impacts, which had resulted in unprecedented losses in domestic revenues, jobs, quantum of international trade, FDI and tourism revenues. These developments, he added, had reduced fiscal space and liquidity for developing countries and were driving inequality within and among countries.

The Foreign Minister echoed the call made by the Prime Minister for transformative global actions that are responsive to the enormity of the triple challenges of pandemic, economic contraction and climate emergency. He highlighted the Prime Minister’s initiatives for global debt relief, recovery and return of stolen assets, climate finance, as well as calls for vaccine equity and a fair international taxation regime.

The Foreign Minister also expressed Pakistan’s support to UNCTAD for its valuable international economic policy research, assessment and options for developing countries to guard against the negative effects and benefit from the global interplay of development, trade, investment, finance and technology issues.

The 15th Quadrennial Conference of UNCTAD is being convened concurrently in Barbados and Geneva from 4-7 October 2021.