Pak-India trade volume to be raised to $6 billion: secretary-level talks next month

Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Tuesday said Pak-India secretaries level trade talks would be held in India next month and Islamabad would have no objection on granting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India.
He said this while talking to media after inaugurating the Carpets Exhibition 2011 jointly organised by the Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) here.
"In the upcoming secretary level talks, a breakthrough on giving MFN status to India is expected," he said. Giving details of the talks held between India and Pakistan during his recent visit to India, he said he and his Indian counterpart expressed the resolve to increase the bilateral trade between the two countries from two billion dollars to six billion dollars. During these talks held after 35 years, there was headway on the issue of multiple visas to the traders of the two countries. He said the visit remained successful, as it helped remove bottlenecks in bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries.
He said the Indian Commerce Minister had assured us all-out support for access to the European markets. "India had already conveyed to its Ambassador in Geneva to support Pakistan in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for market in the EU countries," he said.
Regarding increase in the number of positive items for trade with India, he said all the stakeholders would be consulted in this regard before taking up the matter any further with New Delhi.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Amin Fahim praised the efforts of the PCMEA for bringing good number of foreign buyers back to Pakistan after long time which also helpful in breaking the business and trade recession in Pakistan. He said hand knotted carpets played important role in the economic development of the country for decades and this time again it led the other sectors in brining back foreign buyers to the country, which also boosted the image of Pakistan abroad. He said it was this sector's efforts that their product was recognised by 'Made in Pakistan' tag and US and EU buyers focussed this tag.
The Commerce Minister said the carpet sector was also playing significant role in poverty eradication and women employment generation. He said hand knotted carpets also present the rich cultural heritage of Pakistan and gives good perception of the country. He also assured full support of the government to promote the carpet sector for its tremendous contribution to the national economy. In his address of welcome PCMEA Chairman Khalid Saeed said 85 foreign buyers attended the exhibition from across the world. He said hand knotted carpet manufacturing was cottage industry in Pakistan with more than 1.5 million people which were in poor conditions due to global recession. This has also reduced the buying power abroad and resultantly sales also declined. He demanded special mark-up for the carpet industry and complete government patronage.
Chief Organiser of the Pakistan Hand Knotted Carpets Exhibition 2011 Akhter Nazeer Cooki urged exporters, importers and government to share their responsibilities for better marketing of Pakistani hand knotted carpets. He opined that it was equal duty of importers and exporters to adopt the best marketing practices for promotion of hand knotted carpets and involved media, youth and other sources in the marketing process.