KARACHI  - Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Vice President Muhammad Idrees has said that the Indian government’s visa policy restricts Pakistani visitors to use the same point of entry/ exit only for their arrival and departure from India which must be reviewed.
Idrees gave these remarks while exchanging views with a 57-member Indian delegation of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) during their visit to the Karachi Chamber.
He said that the Pakistani businessmen should be given the freedom to choose the mode of travel and entry/ exit points at their own will.
Muhammad Idrees suggested that the Indian Customs requires a comprehensive list of documents in addition to standard documents whereas the clearance procedure, which is largely done manually and results in increasing the transportation cost along with delaying export consignments, must be completely digitalised in order to ensure timely transit of various export consignments particularly the perishable items.
He also expressed concerns over lack of clear mapping between HS 8 codes of the two countries thus raising classification issues and hoped that the concerned authorities will pay some attention to these issues. He also underscored the need for signing a currency swap agreement between both countries with a view to facilitate trade.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman International Affairs Sub-Committee KCCI, Junaid Esmail Makda mentioned that Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KCCI enjoy excellent relations, which resulted in setting up of Bombay-Karachi Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Karachi Chamber is looking forward to ink MoUs with other chambers of commerce in India so that more joint chambers could be established which can act as a bridge between the business communities of both sides.
The Indian delegation led by Abdul Azeez Hajee, Managing Committee Member FIEO, is currently in Karachi in connection with the India Expo, a single country exhibition showcasing Indian products and services at Karachi Expo Center. Chandranath Som, Joint Deputy Director General FIEO, Vice Chairman Businessmen Group and Former President KCCI, Anjum Nisar and Chairman, were also present at the meeting.