Ahsan Iqbal Calls for CAREC Institute to Become Knowledge Hub

ISLAMABAD: (Staff Reporter) – Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has called for transforming the CAREC Institute into a trusted regional knowledge hub capable of converting the experiences of member countries into practical solutions for shared economic and development challenges.

Addressing the Governing Council meeting of the CAREC Institute in Ulaanbaatar, Ahsan Iqbal said that after 25 years of developing roads, railways, energy connections and trade corridors, the next phase of regional cooperation should focus not only on the movement of goods and energy but also on sharing knowledge and expertise across borders.

He proposed establishing a dynamic CAREC knowledge platform and expert directory bringing together regional data, policy tools, project evaluations and practical experiences. Such a platform, he said, would enable policymakers to identify successful approaches in other countries and adapt them to their own challenges.

The minister also proposed a CAREC peer exchange facility to connect officials dealing with similar challenges, particularly in trade facilitation, digital customs, logistics, renewable energy, disaster response, agriculture and skills development.

Ahsan Iqbal stressed that the Institute’s work should remain demand-driven, closely connected to policy decisions and assessed on the basis of practical impact.

He also called for stronger regional cooperation on coordinated border management, interoperable digital trade systems and shared climate-risk information, saying common challenges required coordinated regional responses.

As Pakistan prepares to assume the CAREC Chairmanship in 2027, Ahsan Iqbal said Islamabad would place knowledge exchange at the centre of its agenda and work with CAREC member countries, the Institute and the Asian Development Bank on economic corridors, trade facilitation, digital connectivity and climate resilience.

He offered Pakistan’s experience with the Pakistan Single Window as an early example for regional peer exchange and said the country would encourage its universities and research institutions to join the CAREC regional knowledge network.

“The first twenty-five years of CAREC showed what we can build together. The next twenty-five should show what we can learn together, and what that learning allows us to achieve,” Ahsan Iqbal said.

He said the CAREC Institute should evolve from being primarily a knowledge producer into a regional hub that gathers, tests, shares and applies knowledge, helping member countries translate evidence into practical policies and coordinated regional action.