Pakistan, US to resume stalled negotiations on BIT soon: US official
Associated Press of Pakistan | 11 August 2008
Pakistan, US to resume stalled negotiations on BIT soon: US official
ISLAMABAD, Aug 11 (APP): Pakistan and the United States have agreed to resume stalled negotiations on Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), with the objective of deepening their strategic relations in various fields including the increased trade and economic cooperation, a senior US official said Monday.
“The negotiations on BIT will resume as soon as possible, as there is a sense of urgency on both sides,” Daniel S. Sullivan, US Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs told a press conference here after having an Economic Dialogue with the Pakistani authorities.
Daniel S. Sullivan said the economic dialogue between the US delegation and Pakistani side, which was led by Minister for Finance Syed Naveed Qamar, was a follow-up of what had been agreed at the leadership level talks during the recent “good meeting” between President George Bush and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in Washington.
The talks covered discussion on macro-economic matters as well as increased cooperation in the fields of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), agriculture, energy, elimination of terrorism financing, creation of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs), BIT, regional cooperation, transit trade and development of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), he added.
The US Assistant Secretary said the focus of talks was deepening of Pakistan-US strategic relations, with increased people to people and business to business contacts identified as a ‘real key’ to achieve the objective.
He said the resumption of experts level Pak-US negotiations on BIT, which had stalled in 2006, was a realization of commitment made in the recent talks at leadership level.
To a question, the US Assistant Secretary said, BIT - which is essentially a chapter of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) - will help spur US investment in Pakistan and strengthen the bilateral cooperation in various fields for mutual benefit.
He did not agree with some apprehensions about the success of ROZs in tribal areas for security reasons, saying, the creation of ROZs in these areas and the spending of US $ 750 million over the next five years will rather help address the security situation through increased development and job opportunities.
Daniel S. Sullivan said other countries including the European countries can also work and cooperate with Pakistan introducing such programmes in the tribal areas.
About market access for Pakistani products in the United States, the US Assistant Secretary said Pakistan qualifies for the duty-free export of its products in the US market under the General System of Preferences (GSP) regime and “we have discussed this issue in today’s talks.”
Similarly, he said, the United States was committed to the successful completion of Doha Development Agenda under the WTO.
To a question about agriculture, the US Assistant Secretary of State said there was a lot of discussion on the issue as Pakistan has enormous potential, adding, there was a need to have separate Pak-US dialogue on agriculture cooperation.
In response to a question about energy issue, he said, Pakistan has diversified resources of energy including gas, coal, hydel etc., which was also reflected in the recent round table on energy in Washington addressed by Prime Minister Gilani.
Daniel S. Sullivan, however, added that “there is no quick fix” of the energy challenges also faced by the United States and can only be met through increased cooperation in this field.
To a question about the possibility of US-India like agreement in civil nuclear technology, he said, “each country has unique circumstances.”
