KARACHI: US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter has expressed hope that a breakthrough can be achieved on providing greater market access to Pakistani exporters in the next six months and praised the European Union which took a lead by announcing trade concessions for Islamabad in October.
“We salute the European Union which did better than us by providing trade concessions to Pakistan,” he said while talking to a select group of journalists at the US consul general’s residence on Monday.
Munter informed that in some US states the textile industry is quite strong and they have reservations about granting easy access to Pakistan’s textile exporters. Besides, the administration needs to discuss the issue with congressional members and get it passed from the Congress, which has shown support for the programme.
He did mention a plan to establish Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in areas bordering Afghanistan which will be able to export products duty-free to US markets. He said that the US government was working on the ROZs issue but there were certain hurdles which are being discussed with congress leaders.
Under the plan, industrial zones will be created with US help in tribal areas close to the Afghan border aimed at encouraging people towards business and trade and driving them away from extremism.
Discussing the progress on the bilateral investment treaty between the US and Pakistan, Economic Counsellor of the US Embassy in Islamabad, Christian de Angelis, said the issue was raised during the strategic dialogue between the two countries in late October. “A video conference will be held between US officials and representatives of the Board of Investment next week to discuss the treaty. There are about a dozen areas that need to be tackled to take the process forward,” he said.
Munter saw great potential in Pakistan’s energy sector and said the US was working with Islamabad on tapping possible areas. “If investment is made in power and energy, not only will this sector will develop, but associated industries will benefit as well.”
Raising taxes
The US envoy stressed the need for Pakistan to increase collection of tax revenues, otherwise the government will find it difficult to manage its affairs. “The reformed general sales tax (RGST) is a signal to the international community that something is being done by the government to boost revenues. We want to see an increase in tax collection as well as fiscal discipline on the part of the government,” he said while referring to government borrowing from the State Bank.
“In a classical economy, a growth strategy makes sense and unless the government controls its budget deficit, generates revenues from taxes and encourages investment, it has to borrow from the central bank.”
Praising Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh as a smart guy who understands things, Munter said that the government is pushing ahead with reforms but corruption and lack of fairness in taxation matters should be tackled.
“Foreign investors are concerned about the security situation in the country and we hope that our cooperation with the government will help build investor confidence.”
Afghan situation
To a question about India’s involvement in Afghanistan, Munter said that it will not affect relations between Delhi and Islamabad. “India is doing some good work in Afghanistan like construction of roads. If you have a stable and prosperous Afghanistan, Pakistan will be prosperous too. And as a result of better economic conditions, relations between Pakistan and India will improve.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2010.
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