Business

SAARC: CCI Stress on better Pak-India ties to enhance trade

Private sector can play key role in promoting viable and sustainable trade.

APP June 28, 2015

Private sector of both countries had to play a key role in the prevailing scenario for viable and sustainable trade relations . PHOTO: ONLINE

LAHORE: The Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) has called for improved relations between Pakistan and India in order to strengthen trade and economic ties between the two neighbours.

“The free movement of business community will not only help improve business environment but also immensely benefit the entire South Asian region,” said SCCI Pakistan Chapter Vice President Iftikhar Malik while talking to a delegation of traders of the Saarc member states.

He said South Asia was the fastest growing region in the world but it was the least integrated, adding though trade with the rest of the world was growing rapidly, intra-regional trade was merely 5% of its total trade.

“Pakistan and India, with the support of their private sectors, have taken historic steps to normalise bilateral trade relations, but the volume of trade still remains extremely low,” said Malik.

He said the private sector of both countries had to play a key role in the prevailing scenario for viable and sustainable trade relations between the two countries.

He said opening of proper trade within the ambit of law would help definitely check irregularities and illegal trade (smuggling) of billions of dollars through land and sea routes.

The leader of the delegation, Saarc CCI former chief Vikramjit Singh Sehnay, said, “Saarc chamber is fully committed to strengthening trade and economic relations besides accelerating business activities in the region.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2015.

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COMMENTS (1)

Bharat R | 9 years ago | Reply Trading with Pakistan is just simply too much of a problem and carries with it the risk of a whole host of unwelcome exports being mixed in with legitimate exports. These unwelcome exports from Pakistan into India include narcotics, arms and ammunition, counterfeit Indian currency notes, funding of terrorists under the garb of trade payments and potential for the export of the polio virus not to mention terrorists via the human contact required for trade. It also carries with it threats to the liberty of Indian citizens owing to maliciously capricious behaviour of Pakistani authorities such as that seen in a recent incident where the arrest in India of a Pakistani truck driver whose truck was found to be carrying narcotics resulted in innocent Indian’s being detained. Government of India should revoke Pakistan’s MFN status, stop trading with Pakistan forthwith. Vehicle for promoting regional trade should thus go from SAARC to BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal). \ In any event with India being 80% of SAARC, there is not too much benefit in chasing regional trade.

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