Pak-India : ‘Improving trade ties can help increase growth’

Regional trade is the key to economic progress.

KARACHI:

Opening up trade with India will help Pakistan to increase its annual gross domestic product (GDP) by at least one to two per cent, said Pakistan Business Council (PBC) CEO Kamran Mirza.

He said this at a discussion forum organised by the Marketing Association of Pakistan (MAP) at a local hotel on Wednesday.

“Forget trade concessions with European Union (EU) because it’s likely to only benefit us with $150 million annually,” he said, referring to the trade concessions with EU after the 2010 floods. “Trade concessions from EU are peanuts if compared to the trade potential with India,” he added.

Speaking about the economic challenges being faced by Pakistan, he said Pakistan is strategically located between the Middle East and Central Asia but “we cannot cash in on this advantage until we open up regional trade”. He further pointed out that improving Pakistan’s economy would be a difficult task “until we open up our borders and improve our infrastructure”.

He welcomed the recent announcement to eventually grant most favoured nation (MFN) to India. He also appreciated the statement of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif where he had said that Pakistan should stop taking India as its biggest enemy.

Shedding light on the National Economic Agenda (NEA), he said all the major political parties are sincere in implementing the NEA but all these parties should also show sustained political will to move forward on economic issues.

MAP President Syed Masood Hashmi, speaking on the occasion, said that the private sector of Pakistan should come forward and take matters into their hands to market the image of Pakistan. The Indian private sector had taken things into their hands years ago to market India, he cited as an example.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.