Pak-India ties: Negative goods list being prepared to boost trade

Positive list to be replaced with negative one to expand product range.

ISLAMABAD:

In an effort to liberalise trade with India, the government has asked the industry to come up with a list of products that they don’t want to trade as the authorities are aiming to finalise the list before next round of secretary-level talks between the two countries.

“Stakeholders are requested to furnish their recommendations along with justification by October 15 for inclusion of non-importable items from India in the negative list either through respective chamber of commerce and industry or directly to the authorities concerned,” said the commerce ministry on Wednesday.

The government has sought domestic production details of the recommended items that could be added to the negative list. It also sought details of inputs used in production of these products, total employment with factory-wise breakdown and retail prices.

The commerce ministry is in the process of switching trade arrangements with India from the existing positive list to a negative list of importable items. Both the countries have decided to switch to a negative list that will carry only those items which will not be traded in a bid to expand the range of products being exchanged.

Currently, Pakistan is importing around 2,000 items from India which are regulated through a positive list.

A spokesperson for the commerce ministry said that authorities will try to complete the negative list by the end of this month. He said the next round of commerce secretary-level talks may be held in November where a decision on implementation of the negative list could be taken.

In the recently concluded ministerial-level talks, the two countries vowed to double bilateral trade to $6 billion from $2.7 billion in three years.

The government will soon announce Trade Policy 2011 and may add another 18 items to the positive list.

Pakistan has also assured India that it would grant “Most Favoured Nation status in due course of time”. On the other hand, India will withdraw its opposition to the European Union tariff concession package for Pakistan.

Trade experts have long been insisting on easing bilateral trade restrictions to exploit the true potential.

According to the Investment and Trade Report 2011, launched by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics on Wednesday, export recovery has led the Asia-Pacific region out of the global financial crisis, allowing the region to emerge as an important stabilising force and an engine of global economic growth.

The report further says that the region continues to face numerous challenges such as high food and fuel prices, continued recession in most of the developed economies and higher incidence of natural disasters that affect trade and investment. Yet there are ample opportunities for the region to expand trade and investment with right policies and strengthened regional cooperation.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2011.