10 July 2004	Saturday	21 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, July 9: The informal trade between India and Pakistan has been continuing through indirect channels and its volume has risen to $2 billion.

This was stated by acting president, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Mohammad Saeed Shafiq during a meeting with the senior economist World Bank Ms Zareen Fatima Naqvi who was accompanied by consultant, Ministry of Commerce Mohammad Akbar.

They exchanged views on Pakistan-India trade relations under South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta). Shafiq said recently a high-level trade delegation of KCCI visited India, which turned out to be very successful.

The delegation received very encouraging response and a strong desire was witnessed from the Indian side to develop enduring trade relations with Pakistani business community.

He said visa restrictions and lack of free movement of people, both in India and Pakistan, were major hurdles in improving trade relations between the two countries. "Therefore it was necessary that both governments must ease visa regulations, specially police reporting system, to boost trade between the two countries," Shafiq said.

The KCCI acting president said if trade with India liberalized there were certain areas where Pakistan could benefit from India, such as import of textile machinery. -APP