RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Commerce Engr Khurram Dastgir said here on Thursday that the country’s exports to European Union surged by 31 per cent to 1.6 billion Euros in the wake of Generalized System of Preference plus (GSP+) status. Speaking a news conference at Trade Development Authority of Pakistan’s (TDAP) head office, the minister said that Pakistan and Iran have agreed to open two new land routes for giving boost to bilateral trade.

He said that Pakistani drivers would have direct access to Central Asian countries after TIR convention was made a part of Transit Trade Agreement between Islamabad and Afghanistan, while drivers from the Central Asian countries would also be able to enter Pakistan without visa and tonnage fee.

The minister was optimistic that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will shortly become a reality with the lifting of international sanctions from Iran.

“We are aiming to organize a trade fair in Tehran, for which I have written a letter to my Iranian counterpart,” the minister said, adding that minister for national food security will soon lead a delegation to Iran.

The minister also informed newsmen that Quetta-Taftan road will be upgraded while efforts are afoot to plan a train route between Islamabad and Tehran.

He said that Pakistan is also interested to import energy from World Bank-funded CASA-1000 project.

He said that the present government has been making sincere efforts to implement the EU’s 27 conventions and, in this regard, he disclosed that prime minister has recently approved inclusion of ‘human rights’ in the National Action Plan (NAP) and the step has been appreciated by the EU committee.

He said that commercial counselors, who were appointed purely on merit, will take charge of their offices within a couple of months.

Replying to query regarding exporters’ stuck refunds with the FBR, he said that his ministry has been advocating the traders’ stance and hoped that the issue would be resolved soon as the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was making his sincere efforts in this regard.

TDAP secretary Rabia Javeri on this occasion informed about the business deals made in the single-country exhibition held in Sri Lanka from Jan 15 to 17. A number of agreements were also signed in the three-day mega exhibition, she added.