October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: Pakistan should focus on improving the quality of its goods and services to compete with those of other countries in the international market under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.

This was the consensus of majority of speakers at a seminar on various agreements of WTO and its impact on developing countries. The seminar was organized by the OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (Comstech) here on Tuesday.

Adviser to prime minister on science and technology Dr Attaur Rehman said Pakistan needed to have the required legislation for maintaining the standards of its goods.

He said without standardization it would not be possible for the developing countries to market their products internationally.

Dr Ata said that for implementation of standards there was a need for installation of laboratories and development of manpower so that the products could be certified. He admitted that for a developing country like Pakistan it would be difficult to maintain all these standards due to paucity of funds.

He said bureaucratic procedures should be reduced and the government should not only be a facilitator but also adopt a pro-industry attitude.

Minister for privatization Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said Pakistan should opt for multilateral trading system, which, he said, would benefit the country in the long run.

He said it was the WTO regime which tried to eliminate trade barriers created by the western countries to provide a level playing field to the products of developing countries.

He said it was not only the developed countries but some developing countries were also involved in distorting the trading system.

“India and Brazil are not ready for trade liberalization. It is not the issue between the South and North. We must keep to compete under the multilateral trading regime,” he remarked.

Dr Hafeez said Pakistan should also pursue to be a member of a regional trading system to get more benefits within the region.

He said there was a need to make the regional agreements like Saarc and the ECO more functional so that the member countries could get maximum benefits from trading among each others.

To a question, he said only those industry collapsed in the country which did not focus on improving their potential and productivity despite the heavy protection provided to them in the shape of high tariffs.

A researcher on agriculture, Dr Wajid Pirzada, said due to heavy subsidy provided to farmers in the developed countries, the products of developing countries were unable to compete with them in their markets.

Furthermore, he said, the products of developing countries were banned in developed countries because they did not fulfil various standards.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) representative, Carlos Chanduvi-Suarev, said for market access initiative Pakistan should enhance competitiveness of supply capacity, products must meet market and client requirements and rules for trade and customs must be harmonised.

He said Pakistan also needed to strengthen and upgrade its testing laboratories along with improving credibility of certification system.