February 21, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 19, 1423

ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The government is likely to finalize a draft convention for the avoidance of double taxation with government of Lebanon.

Official source in the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) told Dawn on Thursday that a two-member delegation, led by Member Direct Taxes Vakil Ahmed Khan, would leave for Beirut on February 26 for initiating dialogue to finalize the draft agreement.

The delegation during its stay would discuss the remaining articles of the agreement with their counterparts to reach on an agreed draft agreement.

The two countries already had a first round of negotiation on the proposed draft agreement and consensus was developed on maximum articles, said the official.

This will be an important step towards strengthening bilateral economic relations and promotions of investment between the two countries, said the official.

The convention essentially emphasizes the concept of taxation of income of international business transaction in the home country of the recipient.

Official statistics made available to Dawn showed that Pakistan achieved a trade balance of 1.73 per cent with Lebanon to $10.254 million during 2001-02 against $10.079 million over the last year.