He was speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) where Chamber's President Shahzad Ali Malik, SVP Sheikh Mohammad Arshad, former LCCI office-bearers, PIAF Chairman Sohail Lashari, executive committee members, and former SAARC Secretary General Chamber Rehmatullah Javed gave their point of view on trade with India.
While taking the business community of Lahore into confidence regarding upcoming talks with his Indian counterpart, Zafar Mahmood said that all genuine reservations of businessmen would be raised in the forthcoming trade dialogue.
The Federal Commerce Secretary said that he would convince his Indian counterpart for establishing a Joint Pak-India Chamber having the authority to grant visa to businessmen so that they could have maximum bilateral trade.
Some key items on the agenda of secretary-level talks include banking sector cooperation, mechanism for dispute resolution, developing an institutional framework for the promotion of trade ties, home textiles, cement, IT, auto sector, Road/Rail links, landing rights for Pakistani TV channels, he said.
He said, Pakistan will resume the stalled trade talks with India with an 'open mind' and hopes to develop an institutional framework to enable the two South Asian nations to exploit their vast potential. 'Integrity of intent' remains vital to boost trade, which suffered because of the 2008 terrorist strike in Mumbai, he added.
While appreciating government for initiating process of consultation with private sector on trade with India and MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status, the LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik said that there is a need to do serious homework for improving bilateral trade ties.
Malik said, "We need to resolve all our major outstanding disputes including Kashmir and water through trade and not at the expense of trade."
He urged the Federal Secretary to work with his counterpart in India to develop and integrate air, sea, rail and road network to facilitate the flow of cargo across borders and beyond.
He said that choices are limited in trade finance which is benefiting third country banking institutions. Banks from both sides should be allowed to operate in each other's country and offer Pakistan and Indian rupee accounts.
He said that Pak-India trade relations need innovative approach. One such way of promoting bilateral trade in a barrier-less environment is to establish Combined Free Trade Zones (FTZs) at various points across the Pak-India border where people can enter and exit by showing their respective proof of national identity. These visa free trading parks at various points across the border will be beneficial for developing bilateral trade.
He said that in the field of bio-technology, Pakistan can greatly benefit from Indian research especially on high-yielding seed varieties in general and BT Hybrid cotton in particular.
Malik said that both countries should harmonize their custom procedures for testing compliance of safety and quarantine standards. In this regard, special quarantine centres and labs for compliance with safety standards should be established at crossing points.
He said obstacles to cross-border investment, other than restrictions based on national security grounds, should be removed and obtaining government approval should be simplified and streamlined. Companies from both the countries should be allowed to float shares in the securities markets of the other, and double taxation on corporate and individual incomes should be removed.
He said, "We need to work in close coordination for involving the entire important stakeholder before finalizing the way forward on trade with India and on granting MFN status to India."