September 27, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 3, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 26: Speakers at a roundtable here on Tuesday stressed the need for enhanced Pak-China trade through land routes for the mutual benefits of both countries.

They asked both governments to remove the procedural irritants, upgrade infrastructural facilities and share relevant information that could help in increasing the volume of bilateral trade.

‘Pak-China Trade: the ground linkages’ was organized by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in collaboration with Pak-China Business and Investment Promotion Council.

Chen J L, chief commissioner of the Kashghar Administration, who was leading the Chinese delegation, said that the Kashghar link could promote business and people-to-people relations between the two countries.

He said the Karakurram Highway (KKH) had already been upgraded as per China’s national standards and developments were underway on the Pakistani side of the same route as well.

The Chinese official informed that agriculture and livestock were the mainstay of economy of the areas bordering Pakistan and there were a lot of surplus sheep to be exported. Mr Chen said that halal meet could be exported from Kashghar to Pakistan.

Pointing towards another issue of bilateral trade, he said the problem of traffic and communication between the two countries needed to be improved. He also suggested that the custom duties and tariffs on goods and trains should be reduced further.

An official from the Animal Husbandry Commission said that Pakistan and China had signed four protocols for cooperation in the livestock sector. However, he regretted that the volume of bilateral trade in that sector was very slow.

Senator Khurshid Ahmed said that cooperation between the two countries had increased substantially. He said Asia was going to play a significant role in the world affairs in the next 20 years and the strategic cooperation between Pakistan and China would be of great importance in this context.

Mr Ahmed, who is also IPS chairman, said there were many agreements between the two countries but a good number of them were yet to be made operational as there was a greater need to develop rules of business.

He said there should be banks of both countries operating on both sides and legal complications that affected trade must be removed. He also pointed towards the problem of physical infrastructure, movement of people, visa facilities to businessmen, language barriers and quality of goods and services. Senator Ahmed suggested that Chinese industrial estates should be established in different areas of Pakistan.

Former chief economist, Fasihuddin, chaired the session. Jalil Ahmed Malik, president Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Amanullah Khan, chairman Pak-China Business and Investment Promotion Council, were also present on the occasion.