FAISALABAD: New economic reforms are being hammered out to synchronise national trade, industry and exports with international standard with a focus on enhanced global market access for Pakistani exportable surplus, said Ministry of Commerce Secretary Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera.He was addressing a seminar on the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement-II (CPFTA-II) at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here. He said that modalities of new economic reforms were being considered, which included ease of doing business, regulatory reforms and enhanced competitiveness of exports. "Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to announce these reforms very soon", he added. He said that data of 20 important and competitive cities of Pakistan was being compiled. "It will reflect ease of doing business, global competitive index and reduction or clubbing existing taxes, duties and levies", he said and added that the Ministry of Commerce was also contemplating to separate the tasks of inspection revenue collection by different departments.About CPFTA, the secretary said that it would ensure enhanced market access to Pakistani products up to 90 per cent whereas in return we would provide only 67 per cent market access to Chinese importers. He said that proper safeguard had also been provided in the FTA for domestic and indigenous industries. He said that the first FTA with China was for 2007/12. "For its second phase, eleven rounds of negotiation were held during 2012-19", he told and added that as there were no proper safeguards for domestic industry in it, hence, the ministry concentrated to provide maximum protection to local industry in the second FTA.He further told that with the onset of the first FTA, Pakistani exports to China were only 500 million dollars, which jumped to 2.5 billion dollars. However, during the uncovered period, it again reduced to 1.5 billion dollars due to the absence of proper safeguards. He told that Chinese imports in these specific lines were around 1.75 trillion dollars on which Pakistan had successfully negotiated zero duty whereas earlier China was changing duties on these tariff lines. "However, now Pakistan will export these products to China duty free", he added. He urged the Pakistani manufacturers and exporters to avail this facility to strengthen Pakistani economy and help in bridging the import-export gap.Regarding FTA with Indonesia, he said that maximum concessions for Pakistani exports had been successfully negotiated. "We have inked an MOU to export Kinnow and rice to Indonesia", he told and added that in 2014/15 our exports to Indonesia were only 100 million dollars, which had now jumped to 300 million dollars. Similarly, Pakistan has negotiated duty free exports of 20 special tariff lines which were earlier taxed with up to 25 per cent duty. About signing ceremony of CPFTA-II, he said that during this historic event, 80 Pakistani exporters also visited Shanghai. During the visit, 500 Chinese companies had expressed their willingness to work with Pakistani counterparts, he added. He said that direct relations between Pakistani and Chinese businessmen were imperative to fully harvest the benefits of CPFTA-II and in this connection we were considering to arrange regular meetings between Chinese and Pakistani businessmen on bi-monthly basis. Underlining the importance of enhanced global accessibility, Sukhera said that in July he and Razzaq Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister on Trade, Industry and Investment, would visit Japan and South Korea. He hoped that negotiation would be made to ensure maximum penetration of Pakistani exports into these markets. Regarding the expo centre in Faisalabad, he also assured to make the Trade Dispute Resolution Organisation (TDRO) more effective and productive in order to settle trade disputes without any inordinate delay.Earlier, in his welcome address, FCCI president Syed Zia Alamdar Hussain said that the FCCI had 7,000 members and had been striving to resolve their issues for the last 44 years. He also termed the FCCI a bridge between government, local businessmen and international community. He told that earlier only textile was the mainstay of its economy but now other sectors like food, oil and chemicals were also contributing their role in the overall economic development of this city.Regarding pathetic situation of Pak rupee, he said that earlier we had been demanding original and market driven price of dollar but the free floating had made it impossible for exporters to predetermine the price of their exports. He quoted the example of Bangladesh where prices were fixed for a period of five years. He demanded that in Pakistan the prices should be fixed at least for a period of one year.
from The News International - National http://bit.ly/30tlV7f
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