TUESDAY NOVEMBER 20: D-8 exhibition inaugurated: Prime Minister for raising trade to $500 billion

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday called for enhancing the current intra-D-8 (Developing-8) trade from $130 billion to $500 billion by 2018, besides, emphasising the need for free trade agreements and removal of barriers to further bolster trade among the member countries.
Inaugurating the four-day 8th D-8 Trade Exhibition in connection with D-8 Summit to be held on Thursday, the Prime Minister called for boosting trade among the member countries. He said that Pakistan wanted to increase its exports in the region from 17 percent to 25 percent, adding that promoting regional trade is an important objective of the country's trade policy.
He also expressed the optimism that the trade exhibition would result in forging long-lasting trade and business linkages among D-8 members. "By engaging with our regional partners, we aim to increase our exports in the region from 17 percent to 25 percent. We are also working on the FTAs initiated by Pakistan," he added. If we are consistent, the Prime Minister said, there is no doubt that by 2018, we can achieve our intra-D-8 trade target of $500 billion, and may even surpass it. He also called upon the D-8 countries to work together‚ in partnership and in harmony‚ to take trade to the said target by 2018.
He went on saying that said the D-8 governments had taken many practical steps to facilitate promotion of trade during the past 15 years, adding that important framework agreements have been put in place‚ such as Preferential Trade Agreement‚ Agreement on Visa facilitation and Co-operation on Customs matters. While forums have also been created to promote institutional linkages among the business communities, he added.
He further said that the member countries had a huge market of about billion people, adding that mutual benefits of trading with one another would be enormous‚ and the surest way to improve the economic indicators of member countries. He said the exhibition will also help bring closer the business communities of the member countries.
The Prime Minister also expressed Pakistan desires to expand business and trade relations with the D-8 member countries. "We have ratified all three key agreements‚ including the Preferential Trade agreement. We are convinced that implementation of tariff concessions under the agreement would lead the D-8 community towards greater economic integration," he expressed optimism.
On the eve of the D-8 Summit‚ he said, "we have taken the initiative of organising the first ever meeting of the heads of Trade Promotion Organisations (TPOs) in Pakistan. The initiative is intended to institutionalise trade relations among D-8 members. TPOs can play a critical role in catalysing the private sector‚ and identifying avenues of co-operation in trade promotion."
He hoped the meeting will come up with concrete and practical recommendations to expand trade relations among the member states. The Prime Minister said Pakistan believes that access to markets should be based on equitable principles. "We have always raised our voice for promotion of unhindered market access," he said, adding that the democratic government believes in the theme of Trade‚ not Aid.
He said that free trade was the best guarantor of sustainable economic growth. "We wish to see an early removal of non-tariff barriers so that we can benefit from the full potential of intra-D-8 trade. This stems from our strong belief in free trade," he added.
He also proposed to promote trade in services, which will immensely benefit D-8 countries. "There exists substantial scope for co-operation in developing the skills needed for industrial sector in D-8 countries," he pointed out. About the steps taken by the government in the economic sphere‚ he said that the fundamentals of Pakistan's economy are robust and record exports were registered last year, while stock exchanges are buoyant. "Our government has taken concrete steps in the trade policy to enable the private sector to play a key role in developing export sector. In order to create an enabling environment for trade‚ we are also building a sound macro-economic framework," he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim said the exhibition would provide an opportunity to deepen trade ties and open new vistas of joint ventures. He suggested that such exhibitions should be held every year to build long-term trade relationships among the member states.
Besides Pakistan‚ the D-8 member states including Bangladesh‚ Indonesia‚ Iran‚ Malaysia‚ Nigeria and Turkey have put their products on display in the exhibition. Pakistan has displayed Halal food‚ engineering and textile products. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, visited different stalls of the exhibition. The exhibition will continue for four days, focusing on promoting trade among member countries.