Federal government on Thursday announced that the Washington-backed Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) will be functional from February 12 or 13, 2011 without any ''side letter'' for India.
"Implementation on APTTA will commence from February 12 or 13 but we have neither given a side letter to Afghanistan for India nor Kabul made any such demand so far," Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood said while replying to a question at a press conference convened to brief media about the amendment to the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF).
Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Additional Secretary, Shahid Rahim Shaikh and Joint Secretary Export Azhar Ali Chaudhry were also present at the press conference. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani approved the amendments in STPF on Wednesday in principle and desired that these amendments may be cleared by the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.
According to Secretary Commerce, Afghanistan had insisted on allowing import of Indian goods through Wagah border but Pakistan regretted to accept this demand, saying that Pakistan cannot allow transport of Indian goods to Afghanistan through Wagah until bilateral issues such as Kashmir are resolved.
Official sources told Business Recorder that the Prime Minister has agreed to allow import of raw jute, Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG), Pure Terephthalic Acid (PTA), polypropylene, polyethylene, spare parts of weaving machines and vaccines from India.
"We are allowing of import of seven more items from India to be announced after formal approval of the ECC," the Secretary Commerce added. Commerce Minister and Commerce Secretary dispelled the impression that Export Development Fund (EDF) is being misused as all the projects are approved in consultation with the private sector, which has due representation on the board.
Answering another question, he said that Federal Export Development and Promotion Board (FEDPB) will be a policy board to be led by the Prime Minister which will meet twice a year to review export policy. The board will be duly represented by the public and private sector stakeholders. This proposal will be submitted to the Cabinet in its meeting on February 9, to be presided over by the Prime Minister.
Secretary Commerce clarified that FEDPB will not replace TDAP as the latter is an implementing agency. In reply to a question regarding the current status of Chairman National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), Ayaz Khan Niazi, the principal accused in Rs 6 billion financial scam, he said that first Niazi was sent on forced leave but later on he was suspended. His two-year contract is going to expire during the second week of current month, he added.
Replying to another question, the Commerce Minister said that the Finance Ministry had agreed to extend Rs 27 billion in three years to implement STPF 2009-12 but failed to release a single penny till today. Sitting on the right side of the Minister, Secretary Commerce clarified that Rs 5 billion liabilities of exporters have accumulated as result of incentives announced in the STPF which the Commerce Ministry has to pay.
"We have requested the Finance Ministry to release whatever amount they can easily arrange to clear the backlog of claims submitted by the exporters, he added. In reply to a question, the Commerce Minister said that the import of five-year old reconditioned cars will not have any impact on the local auto assemblers as these would be less than 1300 CC. He said, notification in this regard will be issued soon but he did not give any specific date for issuance of SRO. Secretary Commerce said Prime Minister has declared 2011 as ''Year of Export'' during which Pakistan will focus on China for expanding exports.
Zafar Mahmood stated that the Prime Minister has reviewed the Commerce Ministry''s performance of the last six months. Last year, the Commerce Ministry had projected 6 percent growth in exports but achieved above 9 percent. This year, the Commerce Ministry is pursuing 10 percent growth as projected in STPF.
He appreciated the role of provincial governments in growth of exports. The Commerce Ministry had identified 22-23 items for inclusion in the present list of tradable items, but he cleared only 17 items.With regard to European Union (EU) package, the Secretary Commerce stated that this time the WTO meeting has been postponed on the request of the EU. The meeting is expected to be convened in March 2011. On Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs), he said David Lipton, US President Barack Obama''s Senior Adviser, has assured that the bill is in Congress and will be passed soon.