He was talking to newsmen after the inaugural session of ECO seminar on "Trade and Investment Information Networking," here on Monday.
The PC is expecting about 3,17,000 applications in response to Kot Addu Power Company's (Kapco) initial public offering (IPO) from small investors throughout the country. The government is encouraging small investors that is why the IPO have been fixed at Rs 15,000 for Kapco.
As far as IPO of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is concerned, he said, "lots of good companies have given their Expression of Interests (EoIs) and are participating in its (PTCL) bidding."
MAIN ECO OBJECTIVE: Earlier in his address, the Minister for Privatisation said: The developing market structure of ECO region presents manifold potential for growth and development through investments, infrastructure development and trade promotion."
"The main objective of the ECO is the expansion of mutual trade and the promotion of conditions for sustained economic growth," he added.
"This objective can better be achieved by the trade and investment networking of the ECO region," he said, adding, "the ECO provides a unique opportunity for its members to overcome the challenges and repercussions of globalisation as well as the needs to further develop its relations within the framework of regional co-operation."
He said: "The ECO region encompasses about 8 million square kilometers with more than 380 million population, making it one of the richest parts of the world in natural resources.
This includes oil, gas, minerals, ferrous, non-ferrous, precious metals, agriculture, hydropower and human resources." This positive situation, he said, "enables the ECO countries to press ahead with the region's economic and development co-operation agendas.
He said, during the past 5-year period (1999-2003), the total trade volume of the ECO member states reached its peak of $250 billion in 2003, which was 25 percent higher as compared with the previous year ie, $198 billion.
Dr Hafeez said, the region shared 1.6 percent of the world trade in 2003. He said ECO members have progressed rapidly and total trade volume of ECO members has increased from $198 billion in 1999 to $250 billion in 2003, showing a rise of 25 percent.
He said: "Pakistan is also progressing and expecting a GDP rate of 7 percent this year due to reforms introduced in last few years by President General Pervez Musharraf.
He said, the establishment of trade and investment network in this region would facilitate the exchange of information on intra-regional trade, technology, human resource, markets and investment opportunities, which would result in the expansion of economic activity.
As the success of this network would depend on the updated information and data resource, the member states must evolve a workable mechanism for co-operation as well as exchange of information, he added.
Later, the seminar elected Pakistan as the chairman for conducting the proceedings and Constituted a drafting committee for preparing recommendations.