Ministry of Finance sources told APP that an Eight-member World Bank mission led by Ms. Kalpana Kochhar (Chief Economist) is visiting Pakistan to discuss the proposed neighbour’s trade with Federal Minister Finance Hafeez Sheikh, Secretary Finance Dr. Waqar Masood Khan and Secretary Economic Affairs Division Abdul Wajid Rana. The objective of the of the World Bank mission led by Ms. Kalpana Kochhar (Chief Economist) is to discuss and support the Government of Pakistan (GOP) in its efforts to facilitate trade with its neighbours to enhance sustainable, equitable economic growth for the prosperity of the country. "The World bank will be working with the Government of Pakistan both before and after the Conference", the sources added. The other objectives of the conference is to increasing networking opportunities with Pakistan's trading partners, identifying opportunities for investment and cooperation for augmenting trade, maintaining momentum on recent trade agreements , grating Most Favoured Nation Status (MFN) status to India, implementation of Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) and understanding requirements for their successful implementation and gaining consensus among these key stakeholders around priorities. The Ministry of Finance sources explaining the details of the proposed conference said that in September 2011, the Government of Pakistan (GoP), through Minister of Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, requested the World Bank's assistance in organizing a conference on trade with Pakistan's neighbouring countries, entitled "Pakistan and Its Trading neighbours". There has been significant pressure from the private sector in Pakistan to increase trade, especially with India, the sources added. "The ground breaking developments of November 2011, namely the decision by Pakistan's Cabinet to grant MFN status and normalize relations with India could pave the way for increased trade between Pakistan and India, and possibly signal a shift in thinking on regional cooperation between the two countries", they remarked. They said that the two countries have also agreed to trade 500MW of electricity while other developments that could enhance trade with Pakistan's neighbours. The areas include progress in structuring commercial arrangements to underpin the proposed TAPI gas pipeline between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India; High-level commitment to develop the Central Asia-South Asia Regional electricity Market, including the CASA-1000 regional transmission line between Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan; and the signing of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement and the completion of the development of Gwadar Port by China, and its commercial operation by a leading port operator from Singapore (PSI International). Based on these objectives, the proposed agendas of the conference have been structured to invite participation by all key stakeholders, including those form partnering countries. The World Bank team will be seeking GoP feedback on the proposed agendas as well as the preparation process and key questions as described in Section III. These include understanding the benefits of economic integration and open markets, understanding the challenges to seizing new opportunities, understanding potential and opportunities, including who the potential investors are and understanding and discussing the political economy issues Agreement on a Follow-up-Process. Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh during his meeting with the World Bank mission thanked their support for holding of the proposed conference and expressed the hope that this initiative would help enhance trade with neighbours and benefit Pakistan socially and economically.