Ahsan Iqbal Proposes Regional Knowledge Hub To Elevate CAREC Economic Cooperation.
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✧ GENERATE BRIEFING
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal proposed upgrading the CAREC Institute into a regional knowledge hub during the Governing Council meeting in Mongolia. Addressing the Governing Council meeting of the CAREC Institute in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal proposed transforming the institute into a dynamic regional knowledge-sharing hub.As Pakistan prepares to assume the CAREC Chairmanship in 2027, the minister emphasized that the next 25 years of regional cooperation must evolve beyond physical infrastructure such as roads and energy corridors to focus on shared expertise, policy frameworks, and actionable data. Key components of the proposal include establishing a living CAREC knowledge platform, a centralized expert directory, and a peer-exchange facility focusing on trade facilitation, digital customs, and climate resilience. Pakistan also offered its Pakistan Single Window (PSW) framework as an early model for regional digital integration.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has proposed transforming the CAREC Institute into a regional knowledge hub to help member countries share expertise and develop practical solutions to common economic and development challenges.
Addressing the Governing Council meeting of the CAREC Institute in Ulaanbaatar, Iqbal said the next phase of regional cooperation should move beyond physical infrastructure such as roads, railways, energy links and trade corridors towards greater knowledge and expertise sharing.
A Living Knowledge Platform and Peer Exchange
To operationalize this vision, the minister put forward structural enhancements designed to bridge policy gaps across member states:
- Living Knowledge Platform & Expert Directory: A centralized repository containing regional data, policy toolkits, project evaluations, and practical case studies to help policymakers adapt proven strategies.
- CAREC Peer Exchange Facility: A dedicated network connecting officials tackling similar institutional hurdles, prioritizing sectors like trade facilitation, digital customs, logistics, renewable energy, disaster response, agriculture, and skills development.
- Institutional Integration: Encouraging Pakistani universities and research bodies to plug directly into the CAREC academic network.
Setting the Agenda for Pakistan’s 2027 Chairmanship
Iqbal reiterated the need for synchronized regional policies on border management, interoperable digital trade systems, and unified climate-risk frameworks.
As Pakistan gears up to assume the CAREC Chairmanship in 2027, Islamabad intends to place cooperative knowledge exchange at the core of its agenda. Highlighting early successes like the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) as a benchmark for peer learning, the minister concluded that the CAREC Institute must evolve past a traditional research producer into an active application hub that turns empirical data into tangible regional growth.
