SIALKOT, May 10: A World Trade Organization (WTO) representative has stressed the need for capacity building of the Gujrat business community for raising awareness about the global trade laws.

He also urged upon Gujrat traders to focus on the diversification of traditional and non-traditional export items for enhancing the national export.

Punjab government’s advisor to WTO Inaamul Haque said this while speaking at a seminar on “Impacts/Implications of the WTO regime on different trade sectors in Pakistan” held at Gujrat under the auspices of the Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the WTO cell of the Punjab government.

According to a press release, Mr Haque said the local business community was not fully aware about advantages and disadvantages of the WTO. He said they should modernize fan, pottery, furniture and ceramic industries under the WTO regime to pull themselves out of financial crunch.

He said that WTO laws simultaneously provided the global trade advantages and challenges for most of the developing countries. “We have to evolve an effective strategy to get maximum trade benefits and to meet the global trade challenges”, he said.

Developing countries, he said, were struggling to bring down their trade tariffs for getting maximum benefits under the WTO regime.

Mr Haque also underlined the need to adopt WTO trade laws without wasting further time. For this purpose, he said the government was making efforts for bridging a communication gap between the private sector and the government.