An official of the ministry of industries has express the fear that domestic products may not be able to compete with Indian goods because of certain factors like high production costs, power and gas issues, quality certification and high mark-up rates.
The seminar was organised by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in collaboration with the ministry of industries. Speaking a t a seminar on 'Post-MFN Implications for Industrial Sectors of Pakistan', Joint Secretary (Policy & Planning Wing)/Project Director of the WTO Cell of the Ministry of Industries Shaista Sohail said that trade between India and Pakistan will be conducted in accordance with its agreements of WTO and Safta.
She said that under these agreements India and Pakistan will have to have Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Plus status. She said that all WTO member countries have to have the same status, adding that there was a prescribed procedure if any country's local industry faced any difficulty.
Shaista Sohail pointed out that Pakistan allowed trade in 4,845 items with India in 1963. Now, she said, the trade was being conducted in 5,599 items, adding that there were still 1,209 items in the negative list which will be scraped from December 31 this year. She said that Pakistan was facing serious energy crisis while India did not have any such issue. She said that the ministry of industry was trying to persuading industrialists to use alternative resource for energy, particularly coal-gas, adding that import duty on equipment and machinery for coal-gas was only five per cent.