The second Pakistan-Australia Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting was held in the Ministry of Commerce here on Tuesday after a gap of four years. The meeting was held back to back with the political consultations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Australian side was led by their First Assistant Secretary Deborah Stokes while Pakistani side was led by Himayatullah Khan Senior Joint Secretary. Australian High Commissioner in Islamabad was also present during the meeting.
Both sides deliberated on various issues of mutual interest, including agriculture co-operation, double taxation agreement, investment co-operation, capacity building and developing institutional linkages between both countries. Pakistani side underscored the need for market access in the Australian market.
Both sides deliberated on ways to provide market access to Pakistan's core export interests. Pakistan also highlighted the need for early import risk analysis by the Australians to enable export of fruits and seafood, especially mangoes, citrus fruit, apples, dates and shrimps to Australian market. The meeting also discussed proposal of signing avoidance of double taxation agreement.
Commerce Ministry believes that the conclusion of this agreement would send positive signals to the business community. Australia has been providing different training and educational opportunities for Pakistani nationals in the recent past. Both sides also discussed the need for developing educational linkages in technical as well as other fields. Both sides were confident that in the upcoming years the bilateral trade and economic relations would further be strengthened.
It was also felt that there is a need to re-activate the Pak-Australia Joint Business Council in order to promote trade and investment between two countries. Two sides will take appropriate steps in this direction too. Both sides agreed to hold the JTC meeting on a yearly basis. The third meeting of JTC will be held in Australia in 2011 for which exact dates will be mutually agreed. It is hoped that the outcomes of the 2nd JTC meeting would be helpful in enhancing bilateral trade and economic relations.-PR