India & Pakistan agree to strengthen economic & business ties
Updated: Sep 13, 2014 02:05:53pm
New Delhi, Sept 13 (KNN) India and Pakistan can cooperate in areas like textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, renewable energy as they have the potential to transform economic ties and business between the two neighbouring countries.
This was highlighted at a special session on “India-Pakistan Biz Connect,” organised by FICCI in association with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) here yesterday.
The two sides agreed that there was a need to create a level playing field between Indian and Pakistani businesses to allow them to leverage on each other’s strengths and develop stronger business linkages.
Speaking at the event, President, FICCI Sidharth Birla called for proactive measures towards achieving India-Pakistan bilateral trade target of USD 6 billion by bringing huge volumes of third country trade and informal trade into the mainstream, opening up of important trade routes and opening of bank branches in each other’s countries.
“No doubt trade between India and Pakistan is inextricably linked to political dynamics which have their ups and downs. What is laudable is that business has triumphed and in fact serves as a strong Track II channel to bring us closer,” Birla said.
The session also saw discussion on the visa issue. Despite progress, visa problems are still faced by business communities of both countries. The speakers urged multiple entry visas for businessmen, eliminating requirement for police reporting, removal of regulation of entry and exit from the same port and speeding up the approval process can help boost B-to-B contact between the two countries.
Offering his comments, Chief Executive, TDAP, S M Muneer made a strong pitch for sustaining warm and friendly relations between India and Pakistan which was crucial in determining the fate of South Asia.
“Regional integration is the only way forward for India and Pakistan to ensure economic growth. Pakistan bears high cost of transport in exporting to Europe. Why don’t we jointly develop a strategy to improve our share of trade in the global trade,” he suggested.
On the other hand, calling for normalization of trade relations between India and Pakistan, Chairman, Nestle Pakistan, Syed Yawar Ali suggested that it was time for India and Pakistan to push ahead with a Bilateral Trade Agreement as had been proposed during the Commerce Secretary level talks in September 2011. It had been recommended that the agreement cover three category of products – products that are mutually beneficial, items that are subject to trigger mechanism and are price based and items which are sensitive to each country.
Calling for prioritizing cooperation in the energy sphere and sharing of raw material resources, President, FPCCI, Zakaria Usman urged India and Pakistan to work on trans-national pipelines for supply of gas to each other as both countries needed large gas supplies. Usman also suggested that Pakistan which has huge deposits of coal with high concentrates of sulphur could use technology available in India to improve the quality of coal. (KNN/ES)
This was highlighted at a special session on “India-Pakistan Biz Connect,” organised by FICCI in association with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) here yesterday.
The two sides agreed that there was a need to create a level playing field between Indian and Pakistani businesses to allow them to leverage on each other’s strengths and develop stronger business linkages.
Speaking at the event, President, FICCI Sidharth Birla called for proactive measures towards achieving India-Pakistan bilateral trade target of USD 6 billion by bringing huge volumes of third country trade and informal trade into the mainstream, opening up of important trade routes and opening of bank branches in each other’s countries.
“No doubt trade between India and Pakistan is inextricably linked to political dynamics which have their ups and downs. What is laudable is that business has triumphed and in fact serves as a strong Track II channel to bring us closer,” Birla said.
The session also saw discussion on the visa issue. Despite progress, visa problems are still faced by business communities of both countries. The speakers urged multiple entry visas for businessmen, eliminating requirement for police reporting, removal of regulation of entry and exit from the same port and speeding up the approval process can help boost B-to-B contact between the two countries.
Offering his comments, Chief Executive, TDAP, S M Muneer made a strong pitch for sustaining warm and friendly relations between India and Pakistan which was crucial in determining the fate of South Asia.
“Regional integration is the only way forward for India and Pakistan to ensure economic growth. Pakistan bears high cost of transport in exporting to Europe. Why don’t we jointly develop a strategy to improve our share of trade in the global trade,” he suggested.
On the other hand, calling for normalization of trade relations between India and Pakistan, Chairman, Nestle Pakistan, Syed Yawar Ali suggested that it was time for India and Pakistan to push ahead with a Bilateral Trade Agreement as had been proposed during the Commerce Secretary level talks in September 2011. It had been recommended that the agreement cover three category of products – products that are mutually beneficial, items that are subject to trigger mechanism and are price based and items which are sensitive to each country.
Calling for prioritizing cooperation in the energy sphere and sharing of raw material resources, President, FPCCI, Zakaria Usman urged India and Pakistan to work on trans-national pipelines for supply of gas to each other as both countries needed large gas supplies. Usman also suggested that Pakistan which has huge deposits of coal with high concentrates of sulphur could use technology available in India to improve the quality of coal. (KNN/ES)
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