Pak-India investment treaty urged
Pak-India investment treaty urged
Friday, November 14, 2008
By our correspondent
KARACHI: President SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI), Tariq Sayeed has urged upon the governments of Pakistan and India to sign a ‘Bilateral Investment Treaty’ to foster economic cooperation which will also motivate other countries of the region to promote intra-regional trade and investment.
He was addressing the inaugural session of the conference on Pakistan-India Economic Relations being held in India on Thursday, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in collaboration with Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry and SCCI.
He also emphasised on promoting the mobility of people, particularly the business community of the region, and in this regard demanded of the governments of India and Pakistan to issue 5 years multiple visas for 500 businessmen and to increase the number of SAARC Visa Exemption Stickers from 100 to 300.
In response, the Indian State Minister for Commerce & Power, Jairam Ramesh ensured his full support and added that the government was trying its utmost to remove the Non-tariff Trade Barrier (NTB) which had been identified by various countries, and so far amongst the 52 identified NTB, 32 were from Pakistan.
He added that India had no country-specific restrictions; the only noteworthy NTB was the requirement of certification of standardisation of products imported into India.
He admitted that Pakistan was the only country, which has been put into the negative.
High Commissioner of Pakistan in India, Shahid Malik said that Pakistan was willing to establish lasting economic cooperation with India based on sincerity and reciprocity. He said that Pakistan has adopted a positive approach to promote trade relations with India, which can be quantified by the increasing volume of trade between two great nations of Asia.
President FPCCI, Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh in his detailed presentation identified areas of cooperation such as iron and steel, tea, leather and textiles, energy, etc, wherein greater complementarities exited.
President of India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IPCCI), S M Muneer, identifying various areas of cooperation, he said that trade between the two countries can be doubled within a couple of years, provided the trade is facilitated by the respective countries.
Senior Vice President FICCI, Singhania, in his address, presented a 10-point agenda to enhance economic cooperation and said that trade volume of $2 billion through a legal channel and $5 billion through a third country is reflective of the trade potential between the two countries, which could be augmented manifold provided sincere efforts are made by both countries.
