ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan has said that South Asia states have to move rapidly to reforms, deregulation and liberalization of their economies to compete in the international market.
Speaking at the 20th annual general meeting and conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists here on Tuesday, the minister said that bilateral and regional trading arrangements were very important until the multilateral trading system under the WTO came into effect that would take another 20 years.
He urged the producers and manufacturers of South Asia to become more competitive in terms of quality and price if they wanted to avail of the opportunities of the world market.
The minister said that only MFN status and preferential trading arrangements were not sufficient for the promotion of trade and economic growth in the Saarc region, rather there were other trade barriers like high tariffs and para-tariffs discouraging the regional trade and economic growth.
He substantiated his view by saying that in spite of normal trade relations between India and Bangladesh, their bilateral trade was only a fraction of their global trades. "That's why there is a need to explore the reasons to rectify the situation."
Mr Khan termed Safta a positive move and said that every signatory of this agreement had to gain from it in the form of enhanced trade and job creation. "Let's give incentives to our exporters so that they go out and explore the possibilities in the world market.
Let's get out of the culture of protectionism and SROs. Let the governments act as catalysts and facilitators for the exporters by bringing about trade facilitation and comprehensive reform packages."
