November 4, 2001	Sunday	Shaba’an 17, 1422

ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: Pakistan will seek another two-year extension (i.e.till December 2005) in its deletion programme in the transition period for the elimination of Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS) at the world trade organisation (WTO) meeting in Doha next week.

Official sources told Dawn here on Saturday that a three-member delegation led by Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood that leaves for Doha on November 7, will seek what they call 2+2+2 instead of an earlier 2+2 year request.

The delegation that will also include additional secretary commerce Khalid Saeed and joint secretary WTO Qasim Niaz would hold a pre-moot meeting on November 8 with the ministers of Organization of Islamic countries (OIC) to muster support for the overall WTO regime.

The delegation will also hold a final consultative round with its 18-member like-minded group of developing countries on November 9 to finalize a strategy for implementation issues under the previous WTO round instead of moving on to the next round as being promoted by the developed countries.

Pakistan will get a formal opportunity to present its case before the Doha ministerial meeting on November 10. Razak Dawood will speak on behalf of Pakistan.

Under the TRIMs Pakistan was originally required to eliminate its deletion programme within five years i.e. by December 31, 1999. Following the 2+2 strategy, WTO in July this year has allowed Pakistan an extension upto December 31, 2001 further extendible up to December 31, 2003.

“The chances are, however, dim,” said a government official when asked about the chances of Pakistan’s request for further extension.

Pakistan has so far followed a policy of progressive local manufacture of a large number of engineering goods including plant and machinery, consumer durable, automobiles and auto parts, etc. Under that policy, the local manufacturers were encouraged to pursue their indigenization plans through concessional customs tariffs on import of raw materials and components. As a result, a high-level of cost effective local manufacturing has been achieved in a large number of items.

In the automobile sector, car industry has achieved 50 to 70 per cent indigenization till date. This is followed by 48 to 83 per cent in tractors industry, 77 to 83 per cent in motor cycles, 38 to 63 per cent in commercial vehicles and 45 to 47 per cent in buses industry.

Plant machinery and vapour generating equipment achieved 28 to 100 per cent indeginization, followed by 61 to 100 per cent in metal working industry, 79 to 100 per cent in electrical industry and 68 to 100 per cent in domestic appliances.

Consequently, the export of engineering goods through small manufacturing excluding surgical goods has started registering an impressive growth. Last financial year it was over 57 per cent.

That the WTO member countries were required to eliminate such protective measures, because these are considered inconsistent with the TRIMs signed by Pakistan in 1994 and government’s commitment with donor agencies require removal of SRO regime, Pakistan had to review its indigenization policy.

In the given circumstances, however, Pakistan could not afford to send negative signals for the established industries, which are already struggling hard in view of unfavourable domestic economic environment coupled with fast globalization and limited protection mechanisms available against stronger economies.

That Pakistan and a number of other developing countries have a long list of do’s and dont’s to accomplish in next two years, new list of issues like environment, investment, competition, government procurements and labour conditions being advocated by the powerful developed countries would be a tough task for developing world to resist or digest in the post-Doha conference scenario.

The developing countries have indicated that environment and labour were non-trade issues and should not be brought under the WTO’s new round, although these issues could be discussed in the sidelines. Pakistan is advocating for reduction in overall industrial tariff instead of special regional trade protections that it believed were negation of the basic trade liberalization concept.