MFN status to India: ‘Pakistani businesses will suffer’

“We have already suffered when the market was opened to Chinese low priced products,” LCCI President.

LAHORE: Most of the industry are not prepared to compete with Indian products, the Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) president told Governor Latif Khan Khosa on Tuesday. Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that though the businesses supported expansion in regional trade, the government decision to grant the most favoured nation status to India at should not be taken “at the cost of [Pakistan’s] industry.” He said there are significant differences in duty structures for various raw materials and semi-finished products that are imported by both India and Pakistan. Plus, he said, the dollar to rupee rate gives India an edge over Pakistan. “We have already suffered when the market was opened to Chinese low priced products,” Sheikh added. Governor Khosa, meanwhile, assured him that the local industry’s interests would be safeguarded. The governor said that all economic policies would be evolved with the consultation of the private sector. Khosa welcomed the suggestion for Businessmen-Police Liaison Committees to check crime in commercial areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2012.