Pakistan, Romania sign trade treaty

To promote cooperation in industry, agriculture and energy.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and Romania on Monday signed a treaty to enhance bilateral trade that has so far remained below $100 million.

Both the countries signed the Agreement on Economic, Technical and Scientific Cooperation. Economic Affairs Division Secretary Abdul Wajid Rana and Romanian Ambassador Emilian Ion inked the accord, said an official handout of the finance ministry.

The agreement will promote cooperation between the two countries in the fields of industry, agriculture, forestry, energy, research and development.

Moreover, both the countries will also find new avenues to cooperate in the areas of telecommunications, computing and informatics, transport, logistics, environment protection, tourism, investment promotion, small and medium enterprises, education, health care and science and technology.

Romania – a European Union member state – has a population of 21.2 million, which is almost nine times less than Pakistan and its per capita income is around 10 times more than that of Pakistan. The eastern European state’s total economy was worth $254 billion and estimated per capita income was $11,860 for the year 2010.

In financial year 2010-11, bilateral trade stood at $84 million, tilted in favour of Pakistan. Romania exported $26 million worth of goods while Islamabad’s exports stood at $58 million. Textiles, livestock and plastic remained the top three export items of Pakistan while Romania mainly exported wooden products and electrical devices.

Under the agreement, a Pakistan-Romania joint commission will also be set up. The commission will work for identification of new development opportunities, develop proposals for economic cooperation between government institutions and set up ad hoc or permanent expert working groups and committees.

The commission will meet at least once a year alternately in Pakistan and Romania and review progress of decisions taken in previous meetings.

Pak-China trade portfolio reviewed

Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh asked the Economic Affairs Division and the Ministry of Commerce to prepare a full list of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) so far signed with different trading partners, particularly with China. He said the list should contain financial implications of these agreements, their present stage and their magnitude after these projects materialised.

He also asked for including a five-year plan, its magnitude and drawing a clear picture indicating feasibilities and hurdles.

This he said while chairing a Pak-China portfolio review meeting. The minister also remarked that business cooperation between private sectors should be encouraged so that people-to-people contacts between the two countries could progress in trade and other socio-economic fields.

Currently, China provides financing to Pakistan in the form of grants, concessional loans, preferential buyer’s credit and export credit at different rates. Under the facility, $1.75 billion and 270 million renminbi had already been provided to Pakistan on different portfolios in the recent past.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2011.