ISLAMABAD: Federal Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday approved negative list of 1,209 items with a decision to abolish negative and positive lists by December 2012 and move towards normalisation of trade with India.
Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told media at a briefing that the Cabinet approved the process of giving final shape to normalisation of trade between the two countries, which would eventually lead to granting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India.
The minister said the Cabinet meeting also directed the concerned ministries to complete the process of phasing out the negative list by December 2012 in consultation with all the stakeholders, addressing their concerns. She said the two countries would enter into normalisation of trade relations after abolishing negative and positive list.
The minister said that positive list means that the items could be exported to India while negative list means that the items are not allowed to be imported from India. After abolition of the negative and positive list, this restriction would be lifted and trader of both the countries would start operating in open market competition. She dismissed the impression that there was any difference of opinion among various ministries on the issue. The minister said Pakistan was able to get access to the European markets due to support by India and some 'give and take' was involved in the process.
A statement which was also read out by the minister stated that in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) trading arrangement, the Cabinet approved unanimously to move from positive to negative list of items for trade with India. The Cabinet also decided in principle to phase out the negative list between Pakistan and India by December 20, 2012. After that the process of trade normalisation between the two countries will be completed.
The Cabinet meeting also unanimously condemned the incident in Kohistan area in which 18 people were shot dead by the terrorists on Tuesday. The meeting offered Fateha and extended sympathies to the bereaved families. The Prime Minister directed the Minister for Interior to help Gilgit-Baltistan government to control the situation and gave instructions that all-out assistance from the federal government should be provided to the Gilgit-Baltistan government.
Secretary Finance, Rana Abdul Wajid gave a briefing to the Cabinet on inflation and stated in Pakistan inflation is showing a declining trend. However, there was a marginal increase due to the energy crisis and weekly inflation on the week ending February 23, 2012 there was decrease in prices of 10 items whereas prices of 23 items remained unchanged and prices of 20 items increased.
The minister said the Prime Minister also directed the Ministry of Petroleum to expedite the process for holding Energy Conference in Lahore, which she said would be sponsored by the World Bank.
The Cabinet meeting reviewed the implementation status of Cabinet decisions pertaining to Narcotics Control, Petroleum and Natural Resources and Professional & Technical Training Divisions. The meeting was informed that 88% decisions pertaining to Narcotics Control Division and 82% to Petroleum have been implemented. The decisions pertaining to Professional & Technical Training are being implemented.
The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval, in principle, for negotiating the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Academic Research and Co-operative Activities between Switzerland and Pakistan. The MoU will help in enhancing relationship between National Defence University (NDU) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), Switzerland. The over-arching principle of this MoU is that activities must be based on mutual respect, equality, and should be mutually beneficial.
The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval, in principle, to initiate negotiations on Memorandum of Understanding between Pakistan and Mauritius in the fields of health and medicine. The proposed MoU will provide opportunity to Pakistani doctors and medical professionals to seek employment in Mauritius. It will also enhance bilateral co-operation in pharmaceutical sector and exchange of experts to realise short term trainings, improvement of professional skills and consultancy in health sector.
The Cabinet considered and gave its approval to Start Negotiations and Sign Pak-Turkmen Media Co-operation Agreement. The Cabinet considered and gave its approval for the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Amendment Bill, 2011. Under this amendment, Engineer-in-Chief of Pak Army will become Member of the Governing Body of Pakistan Engineering Council.
Firdos Ashiq Awan said the Cabinet meeting also appreciated magnetisation of transport policy and emphasised that the policy should be implemented in letter and spirit. In reply to a question, she said the Prime Minister also directed all the ministries to inform the public about their performance with respect to legislation, policy-making as well as steps taken by them for providing relief to people. The minister also dismissed the impression that the government was considering imposing restrictions on media saying that democracy and media are important for each other and no one could think of taking such steps.