Pakistan and Austria will hold talks on bilateral trade and identification of areas for economic co-operation as various ministries have finalised their proposals for the second session of Pak-Austria Joint Working Group (JWG).
Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that JWG would hold a two-day session on October 8 and 9 and the two countries would try to reach an agreement on areas of bilateral trade, possible investment by the public and private sector and the provision of Austrian technical assistance to Pakistan.
According to the sources, the ministries of industries and production, trade and commerce, water and power and other relevant bodies have finalised their proposals for the meeting.
The Board of Investment (BOI), the Privatisation Commission and the other autonomous and semi autonomous bodies have also informed the finance ministry about their recommendations for the meeting.
The Austrian foreign minister is expected to arrive here on October 7 at the head of Austrian delegation comprised of representatives of various government ministries and the private sector.
According to the sources, second session of the group is believed to be an important interaction between the two countries, as the maiden session was not more than a formality.
The two countries will look into each other proposals for increasing economic co-operation, the sources said.
Pakistan already held a wide-ranging discussion on various aspects of bilateral economic co-operation.
Pakistan had proposed the establishment of JWG on trade and economic co-operation, the sources said. The government wanted the establishment of JWG to have a more effective instrument for future economic co-operation between the two countries.
Pakistan is one of the most investment friendly countries in the region and it offers liberal investment incentives including generous fiscal and tax concessions to foreign investors.
According to the proposals of various ministries, the public and private sectors of Austria can gain from tremendous economic opportunities available in Pakistan.
They identified water and power, manufacturing, textiles, leather, sports goods where Austrian firms could make investment.
In initial phase of dialogue in 2002, Islamabad and Vienna discussed expansion of Pakistan Steel Mills, and Pakistan had sought the Austrian assistance for setting up of desalination plant in Karachi.
During the meeting, the two countries had also agreed for early finalisation of the convention on avoidance of double taxation and agreement on promotion and protection of investment.
Pakistan would also inform the Austrian delegation on the Gwadar Deep Seaport project and Islamabad offer of using duty free facilities that the port would offer for transhipment of consignments en route to Middle East and Far East.
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