by Misbah Saba Malik
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- China, which lifted over 700 million people out of poverty over the past 40-plus years of reform and opening up, sets an example that can be followed by other developing countries in their own efforts, a Pakistani expert has said.
China has set a record of contributing over 70 percent of the global poverty reduction. The historic achievement made by the world's most populous country has inspired other developing countries to take similar steps for being financially stable, Ghulam Samad, senior research specialist at the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Institute, said in an interview with Xinhua.
He said the developing countries can start with the Chinese practice of boosting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because this could be a short cut to eradicate poverty with proper support and guidance from the government.
Economies like Pakistan whose major share is the agriculture sector should also focus on the industrialization of agriculture with the support to modern agricultural production and related processing business in order to facilitate the access to markets for poor and smallholding farmers.
"At the initial stage, mega-budget manufacturing units might be an unachievable idea for most of the governments of developing countries including Pakistan, but the enhancements of exports can be done by encouraging, supporting and connecting the SMEs to the export sector," he said.
The Pakistani expert said that developing countries should also learn from China's experience in innovation.
"Lately, China is paying a lot of attention to innovation, so the developing countries should focus on innovation to make a mark in the domestic and global economy. They should come up with novel ideas to enhance exports and meet domestic needs," said Samad.
Samad noted that the domestic and regional connectivity have proved a key factor in eradicating poverty. "In many developing countries like Pakistan, connectivity is not given much importance, such countries are not well-connected with domestic and international markets, due to which many goods that might have a good demand could not reach the potential buyers."
He believed that due in part to this, "financial condition of the people particularly those living in rural areas remains impoverished."
The expert added that China has a very strong domestic connectivity which played an important role to give market access to its traders, and now its global connectivity initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has been contributing to enhancing connectivity for not only China, but also for the participating countries.
"The developing countries which are a part of the BRI can change the fate of their people if they tap on the potential of the initiative, as it is providing them to find market access of their products in countries across the globe," he said. Enditem
