In today's world economy, it is impossible to envisage a world without trade. Not only commodities, but the exchange of ideas, information, entertainment and even culture is now an irreversible established fact of life.
This was stated by the Dean faculty of Agriculture and UAF, acting Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Iftikhar Ahmad Khan, as the chief guest, at the inaugural session of a 4-day workshop on "WTO Agreements and their Impact on Pakistan's Economy", organised by the WTO Cell at the University, on Wednesday.
He added that the trade aspect of globalisation was seen as an opportunity for many countries to benefit from, with the opening of new markets in countries that were earlier closed, or restricted, before the signing of the WTO agreements. He maintained that, according to the WTO agreements, all trade barriers were to be phased out gradually, in order to move the world towards a large trading arena.
Dr Iftikhar Ahmad Khan said that, under the WTO regime, trade patterns would be based on their comparative advantage, economies of scale, with a competitive market structure and stable pricing mechanism. "In the regime, latest technologies, mass communication and market accessibility would determine the growth prospect of economies, where Pakistan is far behind other developed nations", he added.
The Dean Faculty of Agriculture, Economics and Rural Sociology Dr Iqbal Zafar said that the impact of the WTO and its future threat to our economy was still under-estimated by the state. He maintained that our authoritative groups are more concerned about other affairs and still ignore the upcoming challenges faced by our economy.
The Incharge WTO Cell and Chairman Dept. of Development Economics Dr Zulfiqar Ahmad Gill said that our industrial sector had great potential to boost the exports of Pakistan. He added that our textile industry would get a direct hit due to many clauses of the WTO agreements, which are highly significant and will have far-reaching effect on the future of Pakistan's economy.
Chairman Rice Exporter Association of Pakistan Mr Hamid Malhi, Director Investigation National Tariff Commission of Pakistan, Mr Asif Maqbool, Lecturer WTO Cell Dr Usman Mustafa, Chief Trading and Evaluation PIDE Islamabad Mr Imran Zia, Deputy General Manager State Bank Faisalabad Region Dr Muhammad Saleem and Mr Masood Azeem also spoke on the occasion. A 4-day workshop will be concluded on June 6, 2009.
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