ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: The Senate’s Special Committee (SSC) on WTO has approved a draft report on “Challenges of WTO and strategy” and decided to place it before the upper house on Saturday.

The report has been prepared under the guidance of the Draft Committee headed by Senator Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. Other members of the committee include Senators Prof Khurshid Ahmed, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Muhammad Anwar Bhinder, Dr Muhammad Akbar Khwaja and experts Dr A.R. Kamal and Dr Ejaz Ghani.

The report suggests undertaking steps for arranging institutional support and enabling the private sector to face the challenges in the wake of the WTO regime. The study discusses the challenges and implications and impact of various agreements under the WTO regime. It will create awareness among the masses on WTO related issues.

The report is prepared in a proactive manner indicating lapses, providing guidance for the government as regard to present and future policies in the largest interest of the country irrespective of any political outlook.

The report also focuses on substantive issues and WTO’s misuse by developed countries, proposing strategies after the reduction of subsidiaries.

The members of the committee opined that the WTO was an ongoing process; therefore, the presentation of the report in Senate should not be delayed.

The report contains recommendations gathered through presentations by 27 stakeholders, including legislatures, private sector, NGOs, government functionaries and the general public, identifying the role to be played by the respective stakeholders indicating assistance from the government to benefit from the opportunities in the next three years transitional period.

The privatization minister said that bipartisan spirit and harmony shown by the members of the SSC in the national interest, the suggestions of the draft committee and the technical team, efforts of the experts and good response from the civil society made it possible to finalize the report.

It was also suggested that hard copies of the report along with voluminous supporting annexure material should be placed in the Senate library, CDs of the report should be prepared and it might also be made available on the website of Senate and its proper and early printing should be ensured.