Islamabad does not want 'trade war' with East Africa: minister

Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar on Tuesday said that Pakistan does not want "trade war" with East African countries, including Kenya, for enhancing duty on rice, but they have to rationalise it for better trade relations. "I have conveyed to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania that Pakistan does not want trade war with them on this issue, but the present duty will not be accepted at any cost," Humayun who recently returned from Kenya after attending a mini-ministerial conference on the issues relating to World Trade Organisation (WTO), said at a press conference.
Humayun said that he also informed the concerned countries that they have to rationalise duty on Pakistan rice, otherwise the government would be forced to take retaliatory action as pressure from the stakeholders was already rising.
The minister while expressing concern over increased duty on Pakistani rice said that the decision of East African Union to increase duty by 100 percent would have a negative impact on Sindhi farmers as Irri-6 rice was being cultivated in Sindh.
He also said that Pakistan would hold "Envoys conferences" in Central Asia, Latin America and East Europe to seek market access and attract investment in different sectors. For this purpose, the ambassadors of concerned countries would be invited at one place where they would be briefed about the business and investment opportunities in Pakistan.
"It is a fresh concept and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is fully co-operating with the Commerce Ministry," he said.
To a question on a 'match' between the European Union (EU) and Pakistan on Generalised System of Preference (GSP), Humayun said that the government made utmost efforts to secure zero percent duty on Pakistani textile goods in 25 member countries, adding that if the duty was slashed to zero percent from 12 percent it would be beneficial for Pakistan.
The commerce minister said that the European Commission has expressed apprehensions about the security of their delegation as they claimed that they received life threats during inspection at one of the mills, which they believe, was involved in dumping. He, however, asked the EU to dispatch their team for the inspection of remaining mills and the government would provide all-possible security to them.
Asked if the United States (US) has linked Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the issue of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Humayun said, the US officials raised their concern over the violation of property rights, but did not link it with the FTA.
He said that under the WTO it was Pakistan's obligation to implement the agreement in letter and spirit.
When asked whether the US has informed Pakistan that trade relations between both the countries could not be normalised till the resolution of issues like IPR and litigation against a US company, the minister said that this was a dispute between two private sector companies. He said Pakistani judiciary is independent and it would sort out the issue.
The Commerce Ministry had recently issued an official statement after the conclusion of the commerce secretary's visit to the US that the US wants resolution of the two issues for normalisation of trade relations.
On a question that Pakistan is earning a bad name due to inferior quality goods, which are being exported, the minister clarified that though it was not the duty of the Science and Technology Ministry, we have advised the local exporters to give attention towards improvement in quality of their goods.
Asked whether India has offered Pakistan to sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) during the meeting of joint study group, Humayun said that this issue was not discussed. He, however, said that Pakistan has identified some sectors wherein tariff is high for Pakistani goods and asked India to remove non-tariff barriers so that the status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) for India could be considered.
He said that the mini-ministerial conference, which was held in Kenya, consented that the WTO member countries must know that what they would achieve in Hong Kong Summit.
On a question, he said that a meeting has been convened in a couple of days to decide the quantity of cotton for export as the price in the international market has increased.