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No country alone can counter coronavirus, says PM Imran Khan

No country alone can counter coronavirus, says PM Imran Khan
April 8, 2021

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that no country can alone counter coronavirus.

Addressing the Third Developing-8 Virtual Summit on Thursday, he said that it was mandatory to help each other and steps will have to be taken on priority basis. "Owing to coronavirus, the international economy, especially developed countries, suffered a severe loss and the people were heavily indebted," he said.

The prime minister proposed a five-point roadmap to materialize the vision of D-8, which include mobilizing financial resources to recover robustly for the economic and health crises incurred by COVID-19 pandemic.

He invited the D-8 leaders to consider his five-point plan and join advocacy for COVID-19 related relief measures to deal with the unique economic and financial challenges faced by developing countries as a result of the pandemic.

"Taking concrete actions to achieve target of expanding inter-D-8 trade form currently around US$100 billion to US$500 billion by 2030. It should include measures like simplification of border procedures, enhancing institutional linkages and operationalizing new initiatives," he proposed.

Imran Khan said that Pakistan welcomes ideas like  D-8 Payment Card which would enable transactions in local currencies.

The prime minister said that D-8 should develop a Youth Engagement Strategy focused on promoting cultural, educational, scientific and business exchange.

He said that linkages should be established between educational institutions like scholarships, skill development, trainings, fellowships, joint research and exchange program for the youth particularly in the field of science, technology, and innovation.

Imran Khan emphasized on promoting knowledge-based economy, increase expenditure for research and development and focus on rapid digitization. He said that technological development is a gateway to economic prosperity, particularly in the post pandemic period when reliance of technology would be greater than ever in the human history.