03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 2: State Minister for Industries Ali Nawaz Mahar has said the ministry was evolving a strategy to face the WTO challenges in consultation with the stakeholders of different sectors and coordination of different government agencies.

Inaugurating a one-day seminar on 'World Trade Organization Agreements and Quality Management' organized by the Experts Advisory Cell and Institute of Bankers, Pakistan, here on Saturday, Mr Mahar said the WTO multilateral trading system had defined a set of rules encouraging the member countries to pursue open and liberal trade policies. The ability to derive full advantage from the system greatly depended on the knowledge and understanding of the rules and the ability to translate the know-how into a practical course of action.

Advising businessmen to become a part of the emerging global trading regime that advocated a transparent and rules-based trading system, he said the community should understand various WTO trade remedy laws for an effective use for protecting the industry from unfair trade practices. Although the tariffs had been reduced from 125 per cent to 25 per cent, protection against unfair trade practices was available in the form of anti-dumping law and countervailing duties under the WTO agreements.

He said the WTO agreements stood on an ongoing process of negotiations. Areas for further negotiations could still be identified for minimising trade problems for Pakistan. The WTO provisions could also be used to the advantage of the country. For instance, the abolition of trade quota regime could be used as an opportunity for diversification of textile exports.

Mr Mahar said the Pakistani industry was faced with stiff competition due to inefficiency, high cost of business, lack of access to financing, absence of linkages with regional and international production networks, low level of skills and inadequate training facilities for human resource development.

He said the government had been taking steps to redress all the irritants for enhancing the competitive level of industry. A fundamental change had been observed in the economic make-up of Pakistan as a result of government efforts during the past decade in general and last four years in particular. The real challenge for countries like Pakistan was to look for ways and means for using their potential to increase their share in the global trade.

He said the role of the government was primarily to negotiate the legal instruments and make improvements for the benefit of business community. The basic responsibility lay generally with the trading community and particularly with the people who were fortunate to have understood the rules of the new global trade order. Innovative synergies would have to be developed for taking advantage of the new opportunities that had been created under the WTO regime.

Punjab Government Planning and Development Department Think Tank chairman Inamul Haq said the WTO regime contained provisions for checking trade malpractice and facilitating improvements in quality and competitiveness.