After Pakistan trade minister Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim’s visit to India last month, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, or Assocham, has decided to sent a business delegation to the neighbouring country next month. In a freewheeling chat with Shaikh Zoaib Saleem, Assocham president and Spice Mobility managing director Dilip Modi talked about how they were looking forward to reinforce people-to-people contacts and strengthen bilateral trade. Edited excerpts:
An Assocham delegation met the Pakistan commerce minister, Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim, in New Delhi also. How was the meeting?
The meeting was very amicable and forward looking. There was a mutual desire on both sides to move ahead with the need of the times, which was to allow business relations to grow and cater to the aspirations of the people. Businesses, on both sides of the border, are keen to join hands in complementing each other’s growth and to create a better tomorrow for the future generations.
We have so many complementarities and together we can forge win-win partnerships based on our skills and resources.
Your delegation will be going to Pakistan in November this year. What is the agenda for the visit?
Assocham is looking forward to meet and explore partnerships with Pakistan’s industry and business. Besides trade, we will explore how we can enhance our investments and cater to markets of third (world) countries. The delegation will reinforce our people-to-people contact and give momentum to our cultural ties as well.
What are the sectors that can be of interest (exports and imports) to Indian service providers at present? Representatives from which sectors are part of your delegation?
We are not only looking at traditional areas, but new industries including information technology (IT), biotechnology, education, health care and areas where SMEs can create effective backward and forward linkages. Women entrepreneurs, on both sides, are also keen to forge partnerships and it will be our endeavour to forge these during our visit.
Our delegation will include eminent business leaders from the sectors of IT, telecom, health care, food processing , education, agriculture and infrastructure.
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Pakistan has not yet granted the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India. How do you look forward to push this issue through your initiative?
India granted the MFN status to Pakistan quite some time back and I hope that Pakistan will implement the reciprocal arrangement soon. This will be a significant step that will trigger a new era of cooperation between us.
Despite not agreeing to grant the MFN status to India, a trade target of $ 6 billion by 2014 has been set between India and Pakistan. What do you feel about this target? Is it too ambitious or it underestimates the trade between the two countries?
This target reflects the untapped potential of our partnership. It is a fact today the illegal trade is rampant and nearly the same volume as official trade, if not more. If trade is conducted in a conducive policy environment, I am confident that we may even have to look for an upward revision of the target much before 2014.
The commerce secretaries of India and Pakistan will also be meeting in November. Moreover, Indian commerce minister will visit Pakistan in February next year. Any plans to put forth your suggestions and/or recommendations before these meetings?
Assocham believes in facilitating and catalysing inputs from industry and business as well as other stakeholders in ways that leads to a productive dialogue. We are seeking inputs from our members continuously, and one of the most critical aspects is to keep up the momentum of mutual confidence building measures.
Whether it is the ease of obtaining visas or visiting each other’s countries for business or tourism, we must ensure that people-to-people contact remains undeterred. We look forward to greater access for Indian products in Pakistan and vice versa. We are also looking for joint collaborations in diverse fields as design and entertainment, education etc., which will help build a new future for generations to come.
Pakistan has a negative list that includes over 6,000 items. Any plans to discuss the issue with industry associations in Pakistan?
We will discuss various issues with the objective of facilitating free and high volume trade between us.