LAHORE, Oct 20: Indian Deputy High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra has said a new Pak-India business visa agreement was being negotiated and expressed the hoped it would help solve the problems being faced by the business community in this regard.

Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Saturday, Mr Vohra said both Pakistan and India were on higher side in economic terms despite a number of policy constraints. The mutual trade volume had doubled as compared to last year’s which proved an enormous business potential existed between the two countries, he added.

He said Pakistani businessmen should benefit from state-of-the-art CNG technology evolved by India as their country was becoming its leading consumer. They could also enter into joint ventures with their Indian counterparts in a number of other fields, he added

He said the Indian government was making efforts to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub and wanted to increase business with neighbouring countries including Pakistan through exchange of delegations and organising joint trade exhibitions. He asked the LCCI to send a trade delegation to India to explore possibilities of boosting bilateral economic relations.

On the issue of cement import from Pakistan, the diplomat made it clear there was no restriction on the import from Pakistan by land route.

Chamber acting president Yaqoob Tahir Izhar said the trade between the Saarc countries had remained limited despite the states being in close proximity to each other and added it was also because of distrust and outstanding disputes between the governments. He said it was for these reasons that South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta), which had become functional since 1st January 2006, had still not come out of hot waters and failed to stimulate trade between Saarc countries to the desired level.

He said given their ideal strategic location, enhanced business and trade ties between Pakistan and India could help eliminate poverty from the region.

Chamber Vice-President Mubasher Sheikh said Pakistan had already taken a number of confidence building measures but they failed to take the bilateral trade to the required levels due to delay in resolution of the core issues. It was a welcome sign for the people of both countries that the businessmen had realised the urgency of the situation and were stressing the need for peace, he added.