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LAHORE, July 23: The government has decided to appoint a trade ambassador, who will take care of what Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan describes as “trade diplomacy”.
Speaking to businessmen at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and later to reporters at a press conference here on Wednesday, the minister said the trade ambassador would assist him in negotiations with other countries.
“(The job has been created in view of) the ongoing and future talks with other countries on bilateral trade, and regional and free trade agreements,” the minister said.
He said the trade ambassador would also undertake negotiations with the nations that had erected tariff barriers making it difficult for Pakistani exporters to explore their markets.
He said the cabinet had already approved the appointment of one each regional trade commissioner for six regions. These regions include Americas, the Far East, Africa, the Middle East, Africa, and the European Union (including the East European markets). He said his ministry would devote 50 per cent of its energies and time to “trade diplomacy”.
Mr Humayun said the new trade policy had sought to reduce the cost of doing business through various measures in order to facilitate exporters and help them compete in the foreign markets. He said the measures given in the trade policy would bring down the cost of production.
In general, he said, the cost of production had considerably come down in the recent months with the declining interest rates. Besides, he said, the government was in the process of consultation with the central bank to provide cheap finance to the businessmen for all kinds of export-related imports.
WHEAT EXPORT: In reply to a question, he said Pakistan should continue to export wheat even if it had to import the commodity for its own use in order to retain the markets captured during the last couple of years. He said the policy would benefit the country in the post-WTO regime. He warned if Pakistan lost the (foreign wheat) markets it had managed to capture for fear of importing the commodity for its own needs.
In reply to a question about giving MFN status to India in view of recent thaw in relations between the two countries, Mr Humayun said: “We would not shy from initiating talks on trade with India if sustainable talks are initiated (on other issues and disputes).”
The minister said the government was already in the process of finalizing a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka. The minister said Pakistan was already negotiating FTAs with various
countries, including Bangladesh. He said the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was already nearing to finalize a preferential trade agreement to boost regional trade. Moreover, he said, possibilities of signing FTAs with other countries, including Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria were also being explored.
APP adds: Pakistan will finalize its strategy on World Trade Organization issues before the inter-ministerial meeting of the organization being held in Mexican town of Cancum in September.
“The strategy will be approved by the federal cabinet before I leave for Cancum in September,” Commercial Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan said.
