Trade diplomacy: New bilateral agreement expected during Karzai’s visit

Pak-Afghan women’s forum discuss potential of mutually beneficial relationship between two states.

ISLAMABAD:

Members of the Pak-Afghan Women’s Forum came together on Wednesday to discuss trade potential between the two countries. 

Addressing participants at the conference, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Muhammad Omar Daudzai said that despite several impediments, the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan at present is at a level that could be termed the best in history.  He said the increase in the number of exchanges of various civil society and entrepreneurial delegations, especially those comprising women, is a pleasant change from the past.

Daudzai said the existing transit trade agreement between the two countries lacks a comprehensive implementation mechanism which was hindering the promotion of trade activities in the region. He informed the forum’s participants that a new trade agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan is expected to be inked next week during the visit of President Hamid Karzai to Islamabad.”Activities of anti-people and anti-peace elements on both sides of the border should be discouraged and stopped” he said.

The conference was organised by Peace Education and Development (PEAD) Foundation and Women Development Network was attended by members of the Pak-Afghan Women’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PAWFPD). Female aid-workers working for women-development in conflict-hit areas got an opportunity to share their experiences.

PAWFPD members from both countries made detailed deliberations regarding the role of women in economic development and establishing peace in the region. The participants emphasised enhanced linkages between the two countries, especially people to people contact in the business, political and social arena.

Although Pakistan and Afghanistan share centuries of religious, cultural and ethnic relations, political ties between the two are still hostages to geopolitics, said one of the participants. Human rights activist Tahira Abudullah said both countries cannot prosper economically unless there is an atmosphere of peace, which can only be achieved through robust confidence-building measures.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Najlla Habibyar, Chief Executive Officer of the Afghan Ministry of Commerce and Industry said both countries were faced with similar challenges. She said the dysfunctional Peshawar chamber of commerce for women needs to by revitalised and become operational. Habibyar stressed that the focus should be on long-term collaboration for economic development that would secure the role of women beyond 2014. She said that women in Afghanistan were working in handicrafts and as labourers and unfortunately there were not many that have secured influential positions to pressure policymakers. “The future government of Afghanistan should not look at what we have lost in these past ten years, but see what both countries can achieve in the future,” she said.

PEAD Foundation Executive Director Samina Imtiaz said, “Peace is a prerequisite for economic development and it is our genuine hope that these efforts would have a far-reaching impact on the peace and prosperity of the region.

International Republican Institute Country Representative James Littleton said a joint think tank for the two countries’ women needs to be established.

Minister of State for Production Khurram Dastgir Khan said Pakistan is ready to facilitate the reconciliation process in Afghanistan. “We want to strengthen our ties with Afghanistan on the basis of mutual respect and trust and for the betterment of the region,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2013.