LAHORE, Nov 11: Pakistan’s ambassador to the WTO in Geneva Dr Manzoor Ahmad has said the important areas in the WTO negotiations for Pakistan are agriculture, NAMA, GATS and Rules.

Talking to businessmen at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday, he said to develop Pakistan’s negotiating position it was important to get feedback from the businessmen whose economic wellbeing was a must.

Dr Ahmad said the WTO was the only way through which the member countries could sort out the trade problems.

Throwing light on the other aspect of the WTO, he said it was not all about liberalizing trade. Rather in some circumstances its rules supported maintaining trade barriers for example to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease.

He said the WTO procedure underscored the rule of law, and it made the trading system more secure and predictable. The system was based on clearly defined rules, with timetables for completing a case.

LCCI vice-president Aftab Vohra said it was right time to develop a consensus on the issues facing the country with regard to the WTO. He said all the member countries should be provided with the level playing-field.

He said the public and private sectors should join hands to evolve a solid strategy to cope with the WTO-related issues. He said the government should also pay some attention towards the genuine problems being faced by the industry in this regard.

In his address, former FPCCI president Iftikhar Ali Malik spoke about the WTO impact on auto sector. He said there was a need to make Pakistan’s position stronger if we were to meet the future challenges in perspective of the WTO.