February 04, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 15, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: Pakistan has expressed the hope that Washington will share draft legislation with Islamabad before placing it in the US Congress for approval to establish Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in the economically deprived areas on both sides of Pakistan-Afghan border.

A senior official told Dawn on Saturday that the USTR officials in the last meeting with Pakistani counterparts had agreed that the draft law will be placed before US Congress in February 2007 for legislation.

The law will indicate exact locations of the ROZs mostly to be located in the tribal areas and products to be manufactured there for duty free export to US market, the official added.

“We hope that Washington will share with us the draft legislation formally before it was placed in the US Congress,” a senior official in the commerce ministry n condition of anonymity told Dawn.

He said that all details about the ROZs had already been finalised by officials of the USTR in consultation with a private firm hired for the purpose.

To a question the official said that the current proposed amendment in the US Congress will have no impact on trade relations or the establishment of ROZs.

US President George W. Bush had accepted the Pakistani proposal of ROZs in his last visit to Pakistan. Mr Bush had announced that the trade zones established in the remote areas (tribal and border) would get duty free access on goods exported to the US market.