Former Punjab Minister for Industries and ex-President of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry(MCCI) Khawaja Muhammad Jalaluddin Roomi called upon the US administration to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Pakistan and grant it free access to American Markets to compensate it for its losses in the war against terror.
Talking to newsmen, here on Friday, Roomi said that total trade between the two countries had shot up to $5.6 billion last year from $2.6 billion in 2001, the year Pakistan joined the US-led war on terror, following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Stronger economic ties with Pakistan would help advance America's geopolitical goals in South Asia, he said and sought a review of US tariff policy on Pakistan, saying that duties on Pakistani textiles were higher than on those from other key producers. He backed a proposal by Senator Maria Cantwell and Congressman Chris Van Hollen for a duty-free import of certain products from Pakistan, describing it as a good suggestion. Roomi stressed the need for a broad-based relationship with Pakistan, which needs to include enhanced co-operation in areas of trade and investment and energy security.
Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi said greater trade engagement with the US would create new opportunities for businesses and jobs in both countries. He urged the Obama administration to work with Pakistan to boost intellectual property rights protection to foster US private sector investment in the country. Roomi said that there was a dire need of expanding trade ties with the US and for getting greater access, for Pakistani goods, to American markets to maintain balance of trade, and cutting down the trade deficit.
He said that despite the lapse of six years, Washington did not implement the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, signed in June 2003 and aimed at expanding bilateral economic ties, including trade between Pakistan and the United States and promoting US investment in this country. The agreement was still bogged down in procedural issues, mostly of the US's makings, and has yet to be implemented. To make matters worse, no progress seems to have been made on implementing the Science and Technology Agreement concluded at the same time as the Trade and Investment agreement. Nor has there been any progress on implementing a five-year trade capacity-building programme, agreed in June 2003 that was to be launched under the auspices of the US Department of Agriculture's Commercial Law Development Programme. That Six-year period has now run out.
The stated purpose of the agreement was to strengthen and enhance trade and economic, and investment co operation between the two countries. But trade was not progressively liberalise.
He further said that the agreement should provide a framework for exploring new areas and developing appropriate measures for closer economic co operation between the two countries. Pakistani exports should increase in the United States To yield meaningful results, the agreement should aim at the establishment of effective trade and investment facilitation measures, including, but not limited to, simplification of customs procedures and development of mutual recognition arrangements. Expansion of economic co-operation between the two countries should complement the deepening of trade and investment links and the formulation of action plans and programmes aimed at giving concrete shape to the agreed areas of co-operation. None of these aims can be achieved, however, unless the two countries establish appropriate mechanisms for the purpose of effective implementation of the agreement.
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