ISLAMABAD, July 17: The commerce ministry on Saturday briefed Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on the upcoming trade policy for 2004-05, ministry sources said.

They told Dawn that senior ministry officials gave a detailed presentation to Mr Aziz on the salient features of the trade policy to be announced later this month. Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan was also present.

Mr Aziz was also updated on the ongoing negotiations under the World Trade Organization and their implications on Pakistan, the sources said.

They said senior commerce ministry officials would also give detailed presentations to President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in the next two days before finalizing the trade policy.