News
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Pakistan, India agree to ‘normalise’ trade ties* Pakistan announces to notify a small negative list of items by Feb 2012 and abolish it by Dec 2012
* India agrees to eliminate non-tariff barriers for sectors such as textiles, leather, cement, agricultural produce and surgical instruments
* Both countries agree to liberalise visa provisions for businessmen
By Sajid Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan, on Tuesday, agreed to move towards normalisation of bilateral trade by removing hurdles. The announcement came at the conclusion of 6th round of talks on commercial and economic co-operation, between the commerce secretaries of two countries.
The Pakistan delegation was led by Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood while the Indian delegation was headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar. In a bid to switch trade with India from Positive List to Negative List, Pakistan agreed to notify small negative list of items by February 2012 and complete abolition of the negative list by December 2012 for complete trade normalisation with India.
On the other hand, India has agreed to examine and eliminate the non-tariff barriers for sectors such as textiles, leather, cement, agricultural produce and surgical instruments. According to a joint statement issued at the end of talks, the two nations decided that the move to full normalisation of trade relations shall be sequenced. Both sides agreed to move towards enhancing the preferential trading arrangements under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) process.
Acknowledging that the present visa regime for businesspersons was a significant barrier to the rapid expansion of trade, it was noted that the interior ministries of the two nations had reached a broad understanding to put in place reciprocal arrangements, which shall substantially liberalise the visa provisions for business persons.
The delegates reviewed the progress made in developing physical infrastructure for trade through the Attari-Wagah land route. It was agreed that the Joint Technical Group overseeing the work would meet at the end of November 2011 and there would be follow-up monthly meetings in December 2011 and January 2012. It was agreed that all infrastructure construction would be completed and fully operational no later than the end of February 2012.
To boost bilateral business confidence for enhanced bilateral trade, both sides agreed to encourage greater interaction amongst the business entities. On the issue of promotion of bilateral investment, it was agreed that both sides would continue efforts to remove impediments to such investments. There was an understanding that the central banks of both countries need to discuss the issue of opening bank branches in each other’s countries.
The commerce secretaries expressed faith in the ongoing process for increase in bilateral trade. It was agreed that institutional arrangements put in place for promoting bilateral trade and commerce would continue and the concerned working groups shall meet as required, to take forward the charted roadmaps in the 6th round of talks. The 7th round of talks would take place in Pakistan in April/May of 2012.
The joint statement said that India welcomed the decision taken by Pakistan to accord Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India and to the mandate given for full normalisation of the bilateral trade relations, as also meeting of all legal obligations. Both sides agreed that Pakistani commerce minister’s visit to India after 35 years and the political ownership of leaders of both the countries has not only given the trade normalisation process further strength and direction but. a great hope and confidence to the business community also. They expressed hope that positive developments in the trade track would encourage similar progress in other components of the dialogue process.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk