What's new

Pak to give India MFN status

Can anyone of Pakistan friend share some of the info about the items that can potentially be marketed in India???
 
MFN status for India

Pakistan plans to grant India Most Favoured Nation status at the meeting of the Commerce Ministers scheduled for next month in India, according to the Indian press. Quoting Pakistani Commerce Ministry sources, the reports say that talks will take place until then on this issue. Meanwhile, India’s High Commissioner in Pakistan has delivered the formal invitation for the meeting to Pakistani Commerce Minister, Senior Minister Makhdum Amin Fahim. Reticence about the grant to India of MFN status by the Pakistan government is because it knows that it is conceding one of the most important Indian demands without getting anything in return. India has not behaved in accordance with international norms of decency and correct behaviour by allowing the principles of justice and fair play to prevail, and resolve the Kashmir issue in line with the wishes of its people, thus paving the way for a resolution of outstanding issues with Pakistan. However, the Kashmir issue should not obscure the fact that giving India MFN status would not make economic sense.

Read full article here.

MFN status for India | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online

India and Pakistan both have strengths in export in different areas. India is strong in IT, industrial machinery, Bollywood, pharmaceuticals, autos and bikes etc and Pakistan is strong in cement, agriculture products, cotton etc. Pakistan's currency is weaker than India's currency(45/80) so we should be afraid of cheaper goods flooding our market not other way around. If u are willing to expose your industries to global competition, they will come out stronger and healthier. How long are you gonna shelter these companies?? In the long run its untenable and counter productive.
 
Can anyone of Pakistan friend share some of the info about the items that can potentially be marketed in India???

Pakistan's Import and Export Indicators and Statistics at a Glance (2010)

Total value of exports: US$20.29 billion

Primary exports - commodities: textiles (garments, bed linen, cotton cloth, yarn), circe, leather goods, sports goods, chemicals, manufactures, carpets and rugs

Primary export partners: US (15.87 percent of total valor of exports), UAE (12.35 percent), Afghanistan (8.48 percent), UK (4.7 percent), China (4.44 percent).

Total value of imports: US$32.71 billion

Primary imports - commodities: petroleum, petroleum products, machinery, plastics, transportation equipment, edible oils, paper and paperboard, iron and steel, tea

Primary import partners: China (15.35 percent of total imports), Saudi Arabia (10.54 percent), UAE (9.8 percent), US (4.81 percent), Kuwait (4.73 percent), Malaysia (4.43 percent), India (4.02 percent).
 
Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar Sunday nsaid Pakistan may grant most favoured nation (MFN) status to India during a visit by that country’s commerce minister Makhdoom Muhammad Ameen Faheen next month.
“My counterpart Zafar Mahmood is committed to MFN treatment to India and the general sense is that they want to open up to more and more trade items between the two countries. Some progress is expected when the country’s commerce minister visits India in September this year,” he said, adding: “A joint working group headed by joint secretaries of two sides will meet in New Delhi next week. A meeting of the commerce ministers in September and commerce secretaries in November will follow.” It is expected that instead of the positive list, Pakistan would have a narrow ‘negative list’ of about 200 items.
This would imply that a whole range of products other than those 200 items could be exported from India on an equal footing (even at concessional terms for some goods under Safta).
The progress in bilateral trade talks stalled for nearly three years has been the outcome of fifth round of talks on commercial and economic cooperation between commerce secretaries in April in Islamabad.
The MFN status would mean that India would enjoy greater trade flexibilities with Pakistan and that too at lower tariffs and higher import quotas. The products that are likely to benefit the most would include textiles, cotton, man-made filaments, vegetables, coffee, tea and spices.
India-Pakistan trade was worth $1.85 billion in 2009-10, of which Indian exports accounted for $1.78 billion. In April-December 2010, bilateral trade is estimated to have jumped to a little over $3 billion with India’s exports at $1.7 billion. It is estimated that if the progress continues, trade volume could triple to $10 billion over the next three years.
 
Politics blocks MFN status to India – The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomatic authorities have decided to put on the backburner a proposal to grant India the most favoured nation (MFN) trade status after a hostile reaction from political parties. Diplomats will also address the concerns of the security establishment regarding the potential side-effects of the status.

“We should not expect an immediate announcement…the final decision might get delayed,” a senior official at the foreign ministry said on Sunday. “But the proposal is very much there…it is under the international trade agreement and there is no way we can shy away from it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2011.
 
Back
Top Bottom