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Inaugurating the first meeting of the Joint Study Group (JSG) on Economic Cooperation between India and Pakistan here this morning, Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, called for enhancing bilateral trade and said that Indo-Pak trade had the potential to grow five-fold within a couple of years. Suggesting a strategy towards this end, the Minister said: “The first step is for us to exploit the complementarities between our economies. We must identify those goods which are sourced from third countries, but which we can source from each other. Such goods should immediately be removed from negative lists. If in any case we are importing these goods from third countries, then why should we hesitate to rather import them from each other? Apart from anything else, the transaction costs would be much cheaper. Once we have dealt with this obvious step, then we can get more ambitious and identify other goods and services which can enhance our trade”. The inaugural session was also addressed by Shri S.N. Menon, Commerce Secretary, Government of India and Mr. Tasneem Noorani, Commerce Secretary of Pakistan, who are co-chairing the two-day deliberations of the JSG.
Shri Kamal Nath noted that even though there was no bilateral trade agreement between the two countries, trade between India and Pakistan had been showing a satisfactory rate of increase over the past few years, while the growth had been particularly robust during the current financial year. In fact, India’s exports to Pakistan during April-September 2004 had gone up by 256%, having increased to US $ 246.32 million from US $ 69.16 million in the corresponding period of 2003-04. The potential for two-way trade was evident from the fact that indirect trade between the two countries was more than double the direct trade, he said, adding that in the current scenario massive indirect trade, it was the third country, which benefited more. “Why should we allow this to happen? And what do we do need to do so that 100% of the benefits of trade can be shared by our own people?” he asked.
“This Joint Study Group should focus on our economic and commercial interests in totality, and should not shy away from making ambitious proposals. I am sure, Mr. Humayun Khan, my Pakistani colleague, would agree fully with me on the fact that we owe it to our people to meet their expectations”, the Minister said. He said both sides looked forward fruitful discussions in the JSG not only on a bilateral agreement relating to goods, but also on trade in services, investment, and a wider framework of economic cooperation.
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