Federal Minister for Commerce, Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan has stated that agriculture remains Pakistan’s core interest in the trade negotiations at all international fora particularly domestic support, market access and cotton. He made these remarks while representing Pakistan at WTO Ministerial Conference held in Paris on the sidelines of meeting of Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The Minister emphasized that Pakistan will support a robust post-Nairobi work program keeping in view all perspectives of food security on the table.
Mr. Dastgir said that as the first country in the region to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement, an ever-more stable, peaceful, democratic and growing Pakistan is poised to be the economic and trade hub of Central Asia and South Asia, and will open new doors to the rest of the world. .
Pakistan reaffirmed the need for enhancing trade opportunities coupled with removing capacity constraints faced by developing countries and LDCs so as to facilitate their smooth blending into the Global Value Chains.
Mr. Dastgir said that ‘we renew our pledge to discipline global trade rules with due deference to prioritizing development objectives.’
Pakistan’s agriculture exports will have a level playing field as WTO has eliminated immediately agriculture export subsidies by developed countries and put more restrictions on our developing-country competitors.
The Minister also participated in the meeting of the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). The meeting was attended by the Ministers of 23 TiSA negotiating parties (EU as a single entity). TiSA Ministerial is held every year on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council.
The Minister emphasized that the WTO must focus on the development side of e-commerce as this is going to be the backbone of the future trade systems. Developing countries must be provided technical assistance to put in place regulatory infrastructure for e-commerce development and promotion, he added.
He also informed the Ministers about Pakistan’s economic reforms under the present government which have significantly stabilized the economy. The conclusion of TiSA also has the potential to open opportunities for our skilled and unskilled labor force and independent professionals like doctors, engineers, lawyers, and accountants etc. Participation in TISA also carries the chance for Pakistan to become a regional hub of connectivity for foreign suppliers aiming to supply services across the region.
The main purpose of TiSA is to liberalize trade in services among member countries and to lock in any policy reform to bring transparency and predictability in policies. Various accession procedures and institutional measures are under discussion for this purpose. Pakistan is the only country from South Asia who is part of TiSA.
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