KARACHI, Sept 21: A crucial meeting between industrialized nations and developing countries is being held in Geneva on Monday, to thrash out their differences on trade issues on textile quota-free world in 2005 and beyond.

There is a growing concern among the developing countries that the process of phasing out of apparel and textile quota by developed nations is much slower than it was originally anticipated.

A message received from Geneva indicates that representatives from developing countries — Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan — will take strong position and press upon the European Union and the United States to speed up the phasing out process of textile quota to meet the deadline of Dec 31, 2004.

This will be the first meeting where textile and apparel industry leaders from the developed and developing nations will sit face-to-face and try to remove each others apprehensions about trade issues related to quota-free era beginning from the year 2005.

Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood, accompanied by secretary commerce Mirza Qamar Baig, is expected to represent Pakistan where textile industry leaders from over 25 countries will be attending the meeting.

These negotiations will be taking place against the backdrop of the on-going global trade talks among 144 World Trade Organization member nations. The WTO member nations dealing in textile and apparel trade are expected to discuss and negotiate issues such as tariff reductions and quota phase out, and try to find “common ground.”

Director of economic affairs at Euratex, an alliance of all of the national textile and apparel groups in the European Union, Francesco Marchi was quoted to have said: “This is the first meeting to allow everybody to exchange their real problems and threats. It will not be easy but we hope that industries are less dogmatic than governments and that some breakthrough will be realized or that at least people leaving the conference will have the feeling of a better understanding of each others’ positions.”

Textile and apparel leaders from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan will participate in this meeting. They will will be joining the representatives from industrialized nations, including Austria, Germany, Italy, the US, France and the UK.

The Euratex meeting also coincides with a meeting of 14 like- minded representatives of developing nations, who plan to meet with WTO director general Supachai Panitpachkdi to discuss the phase out of quotas on textiles and apparel.

Pakistan Bedwear Exporters Association (PBEA) chairman Shabir Ahmed told Dawn that the business community was not taken into confidence by the government. He said when such an important and crucial meeting regarding textile quota was being held the Ministry of Commerce should have sought views from exporters.

Mr Shabir said presently the industry was undergoing into extensive expansion and modernization to face the challenges of free market. He was critical about the government approach towards such sensitive issues and said when the country’s 65 per cent exports are at stake, the textile industry and exporters should have been consulted before attending the meeting.