"The informal trade between India and Pakistan has been continuing through indirect channels and its volume is to the tune of 2 billion dollars."
This was stated by Mohammad Saeed Shafiq, acting president, Karachi Chamber of Commerce Industry (KCCI), during a meeting with Ms Zareen Fatima Naqvi, Senior Economist, World Bank, who was accompanied by Mohammad Akbar, Consultant, Ministry of Commerce, to exchange views on Pak-India trade relations under Safta.
Saeed informed the delegates that recently a trade delegation of KCCI had visited India and the visit was very successful "beyond our expectations".
The delegation received very encouraging response, and a strong desire was witnessed from the Indian side to develop enduring trade relations with Pakistani business community.
"Visa restrictions and free movement of people, both in India and Pakistan, are major hurdles in improving trade relations between the two countries.
Therefore, it is necessary that both governments must ease visa regulations, specially police reporting system, in order to boost trade between the two countries", Shafiq said.
The KCCI chief said that there are certain areas where Pakistan can benefit from India, such as import of textile machinery, "which we are importing from some European countries at high cost of shipment and longer delivery time.
This could be reduced if trade is liberalised and the machinery is imported from India".
He said that direct shipping links should also be restored so that indirect shipping, which increases the cost, could be avoided.
Seed said that Safta would definitely help to create conducive environment for regional trade and co-operation. It would also provide opportunities for investing in each other country through joint ventures, transfer of technology and upgradation of local industry.
He said that Indian petrochemical industry is quite advanced and it has the only naphtha cracker plant in the region. Therefore, Pakistan may import major polymers from India, and reduce cost of production. "Besides, we can also set up a naphtha cracker plant in Pakistan with Indian collaboration," he added.
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