WASHINGTON, March 22: An effective way to boost economies in Pakistan and Afghanistan would be to allow them to export their products tariff-free into the United States, argues The Washington Post.

In a lead editorial published on Sunday, the Post says that spurring the economy in both countries by creating jobs is a key to defusing militancy.

The newspaper notes that as the Obama administration formulates its strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, all agree that the US needs to help them boost their economies.

The usual remedy of more foreign aid, the newspaper argues, doesn’t always work as foreign aid often doesn’t do much good.

The Post points out that the United States wasted billions of dollars in Iraqi reconstruction aid, “and given the dangerous environment — which discourages inspection and monitoring — you can expect a rerun in Afghanistan and Pakistan”.

The newspaper notes that another proposal, now being considered by the US Congress, is of creating Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Certain products, including some textiles produced within the zones would enjoy duty-free access to the US market for 15 years. This would encourage investment by local businessmen and create jobs.

“There’s no better formula for discouraging Taliban recruitment,” the Post argues. “The strongest argument for the opportunity zones is that there is no down side; the worst that could possibly happen is they don’t trigger much investment.”

The Post points out that the ROZs would immediately send a signal of US commitment and they could have a substantial positive effect reasonably quickly, at almost no cost to the US Treasury.

Strongly endorsing the ROZs, the Post urged both the US Congress and the administration to support this idea.

The newspaper, however, called upon policy-planners in the United States as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan not to narrow the ROZs to the areas affected by the war on terror.

The investment areas have to be drawn widely enough to make the prospect of investment realistic because limiting them to the most intense battle zones will not create many jobs.

But the newspaper warned that bigger zones could arouse union opposition in the US.

The Post pointed out that the authors of the ROZ bill in the US Congress have tried to find “the sweet spot” to avoid this. Their bill insists that any factories in the zones meet core international standards in their treatment of workers.
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