COMMONWEALTH YOUTH VOICES: ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS IN ENHANCING TRADE AND CONNECTIVITY
COMMONWEALTH YOUTH VOICES: ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS IN ENHANCING TRADE AND CONNECTIVITY How the Parliament of Pakistan is leveraging parliamentary diplomacy to turn power into impact At a time when the world is moving towards trade protectionism and COVID-19 has further choked logistic lines, the enhancement of intra-Commonwealth trade no longer represents an option but a necessity. Intra-Commonwealth trade is significantly beneficial and reduces trade costs by more than 20% in comparison to trade with non-Commonwealth States. Therefore, it is essential to improve this cooperation in order to reap the full benefits of shared prosperity, stability and sustainability. A historical trend of the intra-Commonwealth trade data shows that trade grew at an average rate of around 10% from 1995 till 2015. However, in the last five years, progress on trade front is uneven and well below the estimated growth target of intra-Commonwealth trade of US$1 trillion by 2020, earmarked during Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2013 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Currently, major economies of the Commonwealth, like the UK, Canada, Australia, India and Singapore, are leading trade both in and out of the Commonwealth, while other countries are well behind in terms of trade and development. The Commonwealth’s share of global trade was around 15% ($ 3.73 trillion) in 2019, out of which the UK’s exports alone were around 24%, while the top ten countries out of the 54 Commonwealth states contributed 94% in goods and 93% in services exports. This is very much in line with the globally used gravity model to analyze trade statistics, which states that “trade between rich and developed countries grows at a faster pace than the developing or least developing countries”. The overall trade situation of the Commonwealth gives rise to two very pertinent questions: (i) whether Commonwealth states will be able to enhance intraCommonwealth trade to US$2 trillion by 2030 as agreed by Commonwealth Heads of Government at CHOGM back in 2018?;
(ii) if trade continues in the same fashion as mentioned above, can the Commonwealth fulfill its dream of equitable and sustainable growth for all? Undoubtedly, Commonwealth countries are extending collective efforts to improve the overall trade situation, but the achievement of targets by 2030 will be no less than a herculean feat. Nevertheless, intra-Commonwealth trade and connectivity may grow if Parliaments of the respective countries of the Commonwealth are actively and formally involved in the trade processes from negotiations till implementation within their defined boundaries. The Lisbon Treaty (2009)1 significantly increased the power of the European Parliament in Europe’s trade policy and a similar function/role may allow Commonwealth Parliaments to work side by side with their governments. The National Assembly of Pakistan presents an interesting case of successfully leveraging parliamentary diplomacy to pave ways for expanding bilateral and multilateral engagements in respect of trade and connectivity. The first example is Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan. In 2011, trade between the two countries was its peak (US $ 2.5 billion) which reduced to less than US $ 800 million in 2019. Besides security considerations and procedural delays, the absence of a designated dispute resolution mechanism and growing mistrust between two states resulted in that downfall. The decline in trade not only constrained the country’s overall economic growth but also badly affected the livelihoods of people living in border areas as they were totally dependent on cross border trade activities for their sustenance. Keeping these challenges in mind, the Speaker of the National Assembly decided to effectively use parliamentary tools (diplomacy and oversight) to mitigate the situation and unshackle the huge
Mr Shehzad Saeed
has been working as an Assistant Director (Research) at National Assembly of Pakistan since 2015. He holds a post graduate degree in Government and Public Policy. He is a strong proponent of parliamentary diplomacy and strongly believes in its constructive power for transforming lives and bringing sustainable peace and prosperity across the globe. He contributes to the attainment of this goal by assisting relevant Parliamentary Committees and the Secretariat through his policy interventions and research. With special thanks for the coordination of this article to Danish Ali Bhutto, Youth Representative for the CPA Asia Region on the Editorial Advisory Board for The Parliamentarian.
72 | The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue One | 100 years of publishing
