President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday called for enhancing two-way trade between Pakistan and Myanmar and establishing a Preferential Tariff Arrangement leading to culmination of a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Zardari also emphasised establishment of a Joint Ministerial Commission mandated to promote economic and trade co-operation between the two countries as well as co-operation in the oil and gas sector.
He also offered to send Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources to Myanmar for exploring prospects of meaningful co-operation. The President said this during a meeting with Myanmar President U Thein Sein soon after his arrival in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.
Spokesperson to President Farhatullah Babar said that President Zardari also called for consultations between the Central Banks of the two countries to study the prospects of establishing a Currency Swap Arrangement for closer economic and trade co-operation. Further, the President called for a greater interaction between the Chambers of Commerce and offered to send a trade delegation of businessmen and traders to Myanmar. Hopefully, a closer interaction between the respective trade bodies would lead to the establishment of a Joint Business Council, the President remarked.
Pakistan and Myanmar have modest trade relations. Two-way trade between the two countries stood at $24 million in 2009-2010. The spokesperson said that President Zardari also offered to share Pakistan's experience with Myanmar in poverty alleviation and women empowerment. He said that the Benazir Income Support Programme introduced by Pakistan proved very successful and had also been lauded by the international community.
"We would be happy to invite your ministers and officials to visit Pakistan to study this programme which aims at using the Smart Card Technology for women empowerment and poverty alleviation," the President said. To provide a long-term basis for Pakistan-Myanmar co-operation, President Zardari offered to his counterpart, educational and training facilities for Myanmar youth in the medical, engineering and business colleges in Pakistan.
Besides, he also invited Myanmar diplomats to attend courses at the Foreign Service Academy in Pakistan. Babar said that the President emphasised regular high-level contacts "to impart new dynamism to our bilateral relations" and extended an invitation to the Myanmar President to visit Pakistan.
"Besides Parliamentary exchanges, we should also establish regular consultations between our respective Foreign Ministries," the President further said. Recalling the rich Gandhara heritage as a centre of Buddhist learning in the past, President Zardari invited Buddhist devotees to visit ancient and archaeological sites in Pakistan. President Zardari said that Pakistan was keen to promote closer co-operation with all ASEAN countries and looked forward to full dialogue partnership with it and thanked Myanmar for its valuable support to Pakistan in this regard.