The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Punjab Haryana Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for mutual co-operation and facilitation of exchange of information about the products, manufacturers of products, buyers, sellers and service providers in both the countries.
Under the MoU, joint exhibitions for products and services in India and Pakistan shall be organised in both the countries. LCCI and PHDCCI shall strive to expand and develop bilateral relations and cooperation in the fields of trade, industry, investment and other economic fields.
According to the LCCI spokesman, the LCCI delegation which was currently on a visit to India during an interaction with the Indian media in Chandigarh, Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that he was there to extend the message of peace and hoped for the dawn of a new era for both the countries and invited R.S Sachdeva, Co-Chairman, Punjab Committee, PHDCCI to visit the newly set-up Lahore Expo Centre for setting up of Indian pavilion.
He said that India and Pakistan should come up with a policy for opening the borders for trade and commerce, as there was huge trade potential between the two states. He further said that there should be visa exemption for traders of both the countries. There should be no requirement of visa for Pakistani and Indian traders to promote bilateral trade, he added.
The president LCCI also called for opening of multiple visas for the business community. The frequent visits of businessmen of both sides would lead to frequent meetings, he added. Calling for liberalisation of visa regimes, he said that lesser misunderstandings would pave the way for mutual co-operation and unprecedented growth in bilateral trade. If jointly endorsed by Indian and Pakistani chambers, the businessmen and traders should be allowed to cross the border for at least 3 to 4 days, he said.
Talking about the MFN status, he said, they should move ahead with the present list of items and once confidence between both the countries grows, the negative list could be revised. Co-Chairman, Punjab Committee of the PHDCCI R.S Sachdeva said that opening up of more trade corridors would definitely help. Currently, trade volume between the two countries stood at $2.7 billion.