March 17, 2007	Saturday	Safar 27, 1428

ISLAMABAD, March 16: Pakistan has requested Sri Lanka for inclusion of more than 40 tariff lines of auto parts in the negative list of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in a bid to provide further protection to the local automobile sector, a senior official told Dawn on Friday.

Pakistan had already placed around 40 tariff lines of the auto parts in the negative list of the FTA since the implementation of the agreement, but the local automobile manufacturers have proposed another similar number of tariff lines for inclusion in the no concession list of the agreement.

The request among others items came during the first meeting of the joint committee established under Pak-Sri Lanka FTA, which concluded here on Friday. The meeting was co-chaired by Pakistan Minister for Commerce Humayun Akhtar Khan and Minister for Export Development and International Trade, Sri Lanka, Prof G.L Peiris.

The Sri Lankan side has shown their willingness to consider the Pakistani request, the official said adding Colombo would communicate any decision regarding the issue after consultation with their stakeholders.

Both the countries agreed to the proposal to reduce tariff concession on betel leaves and herbal cosmetics. However, Pakistan pointed out to full utilisation rice export quota to Sri Lanka.

The official said that in this regard a high-level delegation of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan would leave next week for Colombo to identify market for the full export of rice to that country. Both sides also discussed the possibility of investment in various sectors.

The key moves forward would be creating a high-level awareness among the business community about the details of the FTA and to facilitate them to benefit from the opportunities available for export promotion.

The Pakistani delegation included Secretary Commerce Syed Asif Shah, Joint Secretary Shahid Bashir and Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Colombo.

The Sri Lankan delegation included Memo Wijerante, minister for enterprise development, Ms Manel De Silva, DG commerce and others.

According to an official announcement issued after the meeting said that the Pakistani commerce minister said the officials of both the governments had an excellent working relationship and played a proactive role in resolving issues, which arose during the initial implementation phase of the agreement.

Mr Khan in his statement reviewed the bilateral trade after the implementation of the agreement and discussed the future roadmap to faster bilateral economic and commercial linkage by initiating negotiations on trade in services and investment.

He emphasised the need to institute facilitation measures to reduce cost of doing trade, especially by the SME sectors of both the countries.

The Sri Lankan trade minister expressed satisfaction on the increase of bilateral trade after the implementation of FTA. He, however, was of the view that much remains to be done to realise the actual potential of bilateral trade.

It was decided that the next review meeting should be held in Sri Lanka on a date convenient to both sides.