By Jawwad Rizvi
LAHORE: India-Pakistan business leaders have emphasized to move with a sustainable peace process between the two countries by creating economic interdependence which would pave the way for removing the mistrust between the two nations.
This was the consensus that developed at the foundation session on ‘Is the present policy framework adequate for Indo-Pak Trade to flourish’ of the two-day 2nd Indo-Pak Economic Conference that began at Lahore under that Aman ki Asha banner on Monday.
The session was chaired by Vice Chairman & Managing Director Bharti Enterprises Rakesh Bharti Mittal while Chairman Descon Razzak Dawood and Chairman Shell, India Vikram Mehta delivered keynote addresses on ‘Economic Policies to Facilitate Growth’ and ‘A Review of Progress so far on the policy framework’, respectively. The panelists of the session were Founder of Packages Ltd. Dr Syed Baber Ali, Dean and Director IBA Karachi Dr Ishrat Husain, CEO Ennore Coke Ltd Ganesh Natarajan.
While opening the session, Mittal said that Pakistan and India are the two largest economies of South Asia. He said that the trading volume between the two countries is presently around $2.5 billion, adding the both the nations are targeting to increase the trade level to $6 billion which could be increased to $12 billion.
He said that the two governments were moving ahead in this direction as both have awarded MFN status to each other by trimming items on negative lists and removing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Mittal said that tremendous opportunities exist for Punjab-to-Punjab cooperation. “I see clear opportunity available for Punjab-Punjab cooperation,” he said, adding that agriculture and food processing was one area in which both sides can benefit. He said that best practices of pharmaceutical and textile sectors could also be shared. He floated the idea of establishing an apex body of the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with sector specific groups. “These groups will discuss their issues and come up with solutions and recommendations to move forward,” he suggested.
He said: “Can we do roaming agreement, air and road connectivity between the two countries for better utilization of each others’ resources.” He also suggested that the northern region of India could the Pakistani infrastructure for exports to reduce cost and time for exports from Karachi and Gwadar ports as it would definitely cut down wastages and time. Mittal said that education and skill development is the third area where both the countries could work together for the benefit of underprivileged population which is deprived of education facilities.
Chairman Descon Razzak Dawood, while delivering a keynote speech on ‘Economic Policies to Facilitate Growth’, stated that the PBC supported liberalisation of trade between the two countries. He underlined that Indian imports from Pakistan is only 0.12 percent of its total imports while Pakistan imports from India is 6 percent of total imports. India imports from Pakistan should be increased to 2 percent from 0.12 percent. He said there was a need to enhance cooperation in the areas of textile, cement, agriculture and pharmaceutical sectors.
Dawood stressed the need to remove the non-tariff barriers and sensitive lists under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). He asked India to treat Pakistan the same way as has treated Bangladesh and Sri Lanka under SAFTA. He observed that India imposed maximum tariff barrier which were allowed under the WTO regime which was not good and discouraging bilateral trade. He also supported the idea of apex business group of India and Pakistan, which was floated by Mittal.
Dawood also stressed upon the two governments to facilitate financial services between the two countries including easy visa regime. “Without easing of visa regime nothing would be possible,” he asserted.
Vikram Mehta, while delivering his address, observed that substantive progress was made by both countries for bilateral trade. He stressed the need further harmonization of efforts made by stakeholders of the two countries. “There is a need to rebuild trade relationships of the two countries which will rebuild neighboring relationships and normalize them,” he observed. He appreciated steps taken by Pakistan of deciding to grant MFN status to India and phasing out of negative list other than opening of the integrated check post at Wagah-Attari borders. He also stressed the need of mutual corporations in energy sector.
“There is a need to create interdependence for economic growth and energy sector is one such area which will reduce security concerns of each country,” he said, adding: “Pakistan can take advantage with the oil refinery facilities established in Indian Punjab while India could be dependent on gas pipelines coming from Iran and Turkmenistan.” He said that reality of cultural and geographical divides between the two countries must be accepted and had to move forward with. “The potential of the two countries should be converted into an opportunity,” he asserted.
Syed Baber Ali, in his brief remarks on the occasion, highlighted the missing link of rail route which was not discussed by anyone. He observed that both countries should utilise their respective train infrastructure for the promotion of bilateral trade. “Why not Pakistani trains with its engine reached to Delhi and same for India this will reduce the cost,” he said, adding that for this Pakistani and Indian customs officials could be deputed to each other countries to validate consignments. He hoped that all bottlenecks faced by Pakistani and Indian in this regard would be removed by the next five years.
Dr Ishrat Husain in his speech said that the trade was not harmful for both Pakistan and India, adding bilateral relations suffered when both sides stopped dialogues. So, in any situation the door of dialogue and discussion should not be closed, he added. He said there was huge trust deficit and in such a scenario any elements against the peace process can easily derail all efforts done by people from both the sides. He suggested a paradigm shift in the promotion of bilateral relations by giving driving seat to the business community taking from bureaucrats who had their own handicaps while taking decisions. Ganesh Natarajan talking about specifically about his sector mentioned that steel and iron sector was facing numerous problems on cargo freight and import duties were hampering the bilateral trade of the two countries in this sector.
He said that the business communities of the two countries were working with third country financial services i.e. Middle East increasing the cost of doing business.
