TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: Khurram Dastagir Khan, Minister of State for Commerce and Textile Industry has said that for getting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status it is imperative that India must reduce non-tariff barriers for Pakistani products to provide level-playing field.

“Pakistan and India trade and business ventures will create win-win situations for both countries” however any incident on borders can have direct negative impact on trade between the two countries, said Dastagir while addressing the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)’s 16th Annual Sustainable Development Conference.

Khurram Dastagir further said that both the governments realise the importance of regional connectivity and in this regard, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken steps to promote a healthy bilateral relationship, expecting the same from India. Bilateral trade between the two countries is more complex as a single untoward incident can derail the whole sustainability process, said the Minister, adding that sustainable growth is important to overcome the menace of poverty.

The Minister further said that India has given MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, however instead of increasing the later share in trade further declined, which needs to be reversed. Both the countries should have equal access to each others markets, the Minister maintained.

Shaban Khalid President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) reiterating measures needed for enhancing trade between India and Pakistan, said negative and positive lists of items between the two countries needs to be reconsidered.

He further said that though some progress has been made regarding visa issue, however more efforts are required in this regard as people-to-people interaction needs to be normalised. Business community recommends trade normalisation under the MFN with India but carefully by providing level-playing field, as Pakistani industry has not performed well during last few years.

India and Pakistan face similar challenges and there is need to jointly address them, said TCA Raghavan Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. He also emphasised that the trade for peace agenda in South Asia requires immediate attention and should be taken forward by establishing a connected infrastructure among member states.

Shams Ul Mulk, Former Chairman, Wapda said that as a region South Asia faces the triangular nexus of food, water and energy insecurity. He stressed that it was imperative to focus on both, availability as well as affordability of energy. Musadik Malik, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan said that the national power policy was the only policy approved by all four provinces.” Experts in the panel stressed the need for member states to jointly address energy and water disputes and challenges in South Asia.

In a panel discussion on the Government’s Vision 2025 Plan, experts stressed that civil services reforms were needed to ensure due implementation of policies. There is need for census in Pakistan for informed policy making. As it is new national census is long due in the country. There should also be consensus amongst political parties to ensure persistency in policies.

On the future of food security in Pakistan, experts expressed that to ensure food security in Pakistan urgent steps are required to improve agricultural productivity and efficiency. The socio-economic status of small farmers needs to be enhanced along with structural reforms in the agricultural sector. Pakistan, Mosharraf Zaidi, renowned analyst and Team Leader of the Alif Ailaan education campaign, observed that education in Pakistan has been painfully affected due to political issues. Experts also emphasised the need for policy-relevant research in the education sector, as well as increase in budgetary allocations to the sector.

Speakers also called for improvement in environmental conditions through reduction in wood cutting and emission of green-house gases. Experts observed that Pakistan is still adopting the traditional farm-based production approach. Experts in the panel on Promoting Freedom of Belief in Pakistan reiterated the equality of all religions as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan. They also added that education and literature can help shape a more tolerant future of Pakistan. Curriculum design should be in favour of religious tolerance.

Experts at the panel on Gender Equality highlighted the significant role that women play in the social, economic and political realms across various parts of South Asia. Gender equality and empowerment require minimal foreign aid but active administrative direction, community participation, and commitment towards implementation of decisions in favour of gender inclusion. Harris Khalique, renowned columnist, observed that women are integral to the political process as well as parliamentary affairs in Pakistan. However, experts also said that the number of women parliamentarians in Pakistan has decreased as compared to elections 2008.

Experts highlighted that there is need for citizen empowerment to bolster accountability of those in-charge. Faisal Shaheen, Visiting Associate at SDPI, observed that there is need for coordination between state and non-state actors for improvement in service delivery. Khaleel Ahmed Tetley from RSPN observed that communities should be mobilised to demand accountability of politicians with regards to service delivery in the country.

The panel on the role of ICT in economic development discussed the background of ICT in Pakistan as well as presented a cross-country comparison of technology growth. Pakistan is one of the fastest developing markets for the mobile financial services in the developing world. Studies quoted that adoption of 3G can lead to economic benefits including enhanced socio-economic development and increased employment. Financial services through e-banking have the potential to increase GDP up to 5 percent by 2020. Speakers also stressed that Pakistan must formulate its own National Broadband Plan.